Australia country information

Common names: Macculloch's rainbowfish, McCulloch's rainbowfish, McCulloch's sun-fish
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Type locality of Melanotaenia maccullochi, Barron River, Cairns, northeastern Queensland. Native to tropical northeast Queensland (Ref. 48666); extending coastally from Cape Flattery, Hope Vale and McIvor River area in the north, through an isolated population in the lower Daintree River area, then from Cairns south to the Cardwell area as far south as Camp Creek; including Jardine river and an isolated population in the vicinity of Darwin (Northern Territory) (Ref. 44894, 121823). The area of occurrence typically consists of swamp and stream environments, ranging from small waterways, larger wetlands and dune lakes, with microhabitat typically comprising of dense cover of submerged or emergent vegetation in shallow water (<50 cm) with low turbidity and often low pH (reported values sometimes as low as 3.6). In the coastal plains south of Cairns, it occurs in swamps and associated small, low velocity feeder streams and also in artificial drains adjacent to sugar or banana crops. Commonly co-occurs with Melanotaenia splendida and is often found in association with other wetland fish species particularly Pseudomugil gertrudae and Oxyeleotris nullipora. The type locality (Barron River near Cairns), was assumed to represent a small tributary stream, anabranch or swamp associated with the lower Barron River, rather than the large rocky Barron River channel proper per se. The species apparently remained present in swamps of Cairns during the 1940s (CSIRO B 658); however, most recent reports indicate it has been extirpated following extensive agricultural and urban development and alien fish introductions. An extant site does occur in Boggy Creek to the south of Cairns, around 20 km southeast of the Barron River (NTM S.18179-001), apparently as a small remnant of what was likely an extensive population associated with the local broad coastal plain. Diet has been studied at one site (Cape Flattery dune fields), it included aquatic vegetation (diatoms) and insect larvae. Wild fish are known to reach 5.2 cm SL (6.4 cm TL: WAM P.26951.001), but are typically less than 3.5 mm SL. However, it was observed to grow considerably larger in aquaria (~100 mm TL) (Ref. 121823). Also Ref. 2847.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.csiro.au/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Allen, G.R., 1989
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Dwarf rainbowfish, McCulloch's rainbowfish, 麦氏点鳍鱼, ... more

Classification / Names Nomi Comuni | Sinonimi | Catalog of Fishes(Genere, Specie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

> Atheriniformes (Silversides) > Melanotaeniidae (Rainbowfishes, blue eyes)
Etymology: Melanotaenia: Greek, melan, -anos = black + latin, taenia = stripe (Ref. 45335); maccullochi: Named for Allan Riverston McCulloch, a prominent and productive ichthyologist with the Australian Museum through the early 1900s..
More on author: Ogilby.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecologia

; acqua dolce benthopelagico; pH range: 7.0 - ? ; dH range: 10 - ?. Tropical; 20°C - 25°C (Ref. 1672); 6°S - 10°S

Distribuzione Stati | Aree FAO | Ecosystems | Presenze | Point map | Introduzioni | Faunafri

Oceania: northeastern Australia.

Size / Peso / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.0 cm SL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 44894)

Short description Morfologia | Morfometria

Spine dorsali (totale): 6 - 7; Raggi dorsali molli (totale): 8-10; Spine anali 1; Raggi anali molli: 13 - 17; Vertebre: 32 - 35. This species with well-contrasted dark lateral body stripes, is distinguished by the following set of characters: D V-VI,I,8-10 (mode 9); A I,13-17 (mode 15); procurrent caudal rays 12-15 (mode 13); lateral line scales 30-33 (mode 32); cheek scales often 9-12; total gill rakers on first arch 13-18 (usually 14-16); vertebrae 32-35 (mode 33); body is moderately deep with greatest depth 2.8-3.7 (mean 3.3) in SL and greatest width 1.8-3.1 (mean 2.2) in HL; maxilla is relatively long 3.0-3.8 (mean 3.4) in HL; long predorsal distance 1.9-2.3 (mean 2.1) in SL. Colouration: when alive bronze to brown body lighter on ventral half with a series of dark brown lateral stripes; fins are orange to rich red especially in nuptial males, sometimes with lines of spots or a horizontal line near base but never as a thick submarginal band (Ref. 121823).

Inhabits lowland swamps and small streams, usually in clear, acidic waters with ample cover in the form of log debris or aquatic vegetation. Occurs at temperatures ranging from 24-30° C (Ref. 5259). Found in clear waters of small creeks and Pandanus swamps. pH range is 5.5-7 (Ref. 44894). Commonly co-occurs with Melanotaenia splendida and is often found in association with other wetland fish species particularly Pseudomugil gertrudae and Oxyeleotris nullipora (Ref. 121823),

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturità | Riproduzione | Deposizione | Uova | Fecundity | Larve

Produces 150-200 eggs. Distinct pairing (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | Bibliografia | Coordinatore | Collaboratori

Hammer, M.P., G.R. Allen, K.C. Martin, M. Adams and P.J. Unmack, 2019. Two new species of dwarf rainbowfishes (Atheriniformes: Melanotaeniidae) from northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Zootaxa 4701(3):201-234. (Ref. 121823)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 05 December 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Acquario: Commerciale

FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

Informazioni ulteriori

Stati
Aree FAO
Ecosystems
Presenze
Introduzioni
Stocks
Ecologia
Dieta
Prede
Consumo di cibo
Razione

Nomi Comuni
Sinonimi
Metabolismo
Predatori
Ecotossicologia
Riproduzione
Maturità
Deposizione
Fecundity
Uova
Egg development

Age/Size
Accrescimento
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morfometria
Morfologia
Larve
Dinamica popolazioni larvali
Reclutamento
Abbondanza

Bibliografia
Acquacoltura
Profilo di acquacoltura
Varietà
Genetica
Electrophoreses
Ereditarietà
Malattie
Elaborazione
Mass conversion

Collaboratori
Immagini
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Suoni
Ciguatera
Velocità
Modalità di nuoto
Area branchiale
Otoliths
Cervelli
Vista

Strumenti

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Nomi Comuni | Photos

Fonti Internet

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00514 - 0.02450), b=3.04 (2.87 - 3.21), in cm Total Length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 2.9 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilienza (Ref. 120179): Medio, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 1.4 - 4.4 anni (Fec = 150).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Melanotaenia maccullochi Ogilby, 1915