NATIVE

Common Name Common (Common jollytail)

Scientific Name Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns, 1842) Photo: Gunther Schmida

Identification A small, slender fish with a slender caudal peduncle. Maximum size 190 mm; usually < 100 mm. Scales Photo: Gunther Schmida are absent, the tail is slightly forked, stage and the anal fin originates directly below the dorsal fin. The head is small and bluntly pointed and the mouth is small, only reaching six months before returning to streams the back to the front of the eyes. The jaws are following spring. In landlocked populations equal in length. Overall translucent grey-olive in lakes, breeding occurs in late winter-early to amber in colour, with the back and sides spring on rising water levels, with adults irregularly blotched or spotted greenish grey. making a short migration into tributaries to The belly, eyes and gill covers are bright silvery . The larvae are washed down into lakes to white. The fins are largely translucent. to spend several months amongst the shallow shoreline vegetation. Individuals are mature at Biology and Habitat the end of their first year, (~ 90 mm length), This species is commonly found in coastal although some do not breed until their habitats, in still or slow-flowing streams and second year. Very few survive until the end of the margins of lagoons and lakes. Coastal their third year and a substantial proportion stream populations breed in autumn, with of adult fish die after spawning. Each female adults migrating downstream to brackish produces several thousand eggs (up to 13,500). areas to spawn. The larvae disperse to sea for The spawning site is in terrestrial vegetation

42 Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin An introductory guide 43 ID Valley 1 Avoca 2 Border Rivers 3 Broken 4 campaspe 5 castlereagh 6 central Murray 7 condamine 8 darling 9 goulburn 10 gwydir 11 Kiewa 12 Lachlan 13 Loddon 14 Lower Murray 15 Macquarie 16 Mitta Mitta 17 Murrumbidgee 18 namoi 19 ovens 20 Paroo 21 upper Murray 22 Warrego 23 Wimmera

above the normal water line, either in flooded affected by the barrages below the Lower shallow margins of streams or above the Lakes, which act as a barrier to prevent the normal tideline in estuaries. The adhesive larval whitebait stage returning from the sea. eggs (~ 1 mm diameter) develop in these However, the species is still widespread and moist environments over about 14 days and abundant in the Lower Lakes, where it may hatching is stimulated by the next high tide be recruiting as a landlocked population or flood. Eggs are able to survive without without access to marine environments. It immersion for up to 8 weeks. Newly hatched is also known from the Wimmera, Loddon larvae are approximately 7 mm long. and Campaspe catchments in Vic, where it is considered a translocated species, probably The species is carnivorous and takes food introduced through water diversions from from the bottom, mid-water or the surface. coastal streams or in bait-buckets. The diet of landlocked populations consists mainly of amphipods, chironomid larvae and Potential Threats microcrustaceans; stream-dwelling individuals consume more . The barrages on the Lower Lakes may be depressing larval whitebait returns and reduced Distribution and Abundance flows may be reducing spawning opportunities for landlocked recruitment and migration. The Common galaxias is a common fish of lowland coastal streams, from SA to southern General References Qld and Tas. In the Murray-Darling Basin it et al et al is known from the Lower Lakes (Alexandrina Allen . 2002; Becker . 2005; and Albert), extending up to approximately McDowall & Fulton 1996; Pollard 1971, et al Mannum on the Lower Murray and streams 1972, 1973; Stuart . 2005; Wedderburn of the Mt Lofty Ranges in SA. Its abundance & Hammer 2003. in the lower Basin is likely to have been

42 Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin An introductory guide 43 Published by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission Postal address: GPO Box 409, Canberra ACT 2601 Office location: Level 3, 51 Allara Street, Canberra City ACT Telephone: (02) 6279 0100, international + 61 2 6279 0100 Facsimile: (02) 6248 8053, international + 61 2 6248 8053 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.mdbc.gov.au For further information contact the Murray-Darling Basin Commission office on (02) 6279 0100 This fish fact sheet is an extract derived from the report: Lintermans, M. 2007, Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin: An introductory guide. MDBC Publication No. 10/07 ISBN 1 921257 20 2 © Murray-Darling Basin Commission 2007 This work is copyright. Graphical and textual information in the work (with the exception of photographs, artwork and the MDBC logo) may be stored, retrieved and reproduced in whole or in part provided the information is not sold or used for commercial benefit and its source (Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin) is acknowledged. Such reproduction includes fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction for other purposes is prohibited without the permission of the Murray- Darling Basin Commission or the individual photographers and artists with whom copyright applies. To extent permitted by law, the copyright holders (including its employees and consultants) exclude all liability to any person for any consequences, including but not limited to all losses, damages, costs, expenses and any other compensation, arising directly or indirectly from using this report (in part or whole) and any information or material contained in it.

ii Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin