GALAXIAS BREV1PINNIS GUNTHER (PISCES, GALAXIIDAE) 
IN NORTH-EASTERN VICTORIA: FIRST RECORDS FOR 
THE MURRAY-DARLING DRAINAGE BASIN 
A. K. Morison and J. R. Anderson 
Kaiela Fisheries Research Station, Flora and Fauna Division, 
Department of Conservation & Environment, PO Box 1226, 
Shepparton, Victoria 3632 
Morison, A. K. & Anderson, J. R., 1991:06:30. Galaxias brevipinnis Gunther (Pisces, 
Galaxiidae) in north-eastern Victoria: first records for the Murray-Darling drainage 
basin. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 103 (1): 17-28. ISSN 0035-9211. 
During surveys in 1990, Galaxias brevipinnis Gunther, 1866 was caught at 11 sites in 
two catchments in north-eastern Victoria, the first reports of this species from the Murray- 
Darling drainage basin. Data on gonad maturity stage, gonadosomatic index and maximum 
oocyte diameter indicate that the species has established breeding populations that spawn in 
April or early May. Assessment of past survey results indicates that these populations are 
most probably recently introduced rather than being undiscovered natural populations. 
Movement of G. brevipinnis from the upper Snowy River catchment through tunnels carry¬ 
ing water for hydro-electric and irrigation purposes is regarded as the most likely means of 
introduction but other possibilities are discussed. Specimens were collected from several 
types of stream habitat including rocky fast-flowing habitats and one site with fine sediments 
and slow flow. Occurrence of the species was independent of the presence of Salrno trutta L. 
The spread of Galaxias brevipinnis may adversely affect other aquatic species indigenous to 
the Murray-Darling drainage basin. 
THE FAMILY Galaxiidae contains about 40 
species of small salmoniform fishes of the South¬ 
ern Hemisphere including 22 species from 
southern Australia (Allen 1989). Galaxiids con¬ 
stitute a major proportion of the total number of 
freshwater fish species native to southern Aus¬ 
tralia (McDowall & Frankenberg 1981). How¬ 
ever, only three species of galaxiids are included 
among the list of about 31 species of native 
freshwater fish found in the Murray-Darling 
Basin, the largest drainage basin in Australia. 
Those three species are the mountain galaxias, 
Galaxias olidus Gunther, 1866, the flat-headed 
galaxias, G. rostratus Klunzinger, 1872, and the 
diadromous common galaxias, G. metadatas 
(Jenyns, 1842) (Anderson 1989, Pierce 1989). 
In Australia, G. brevipinnis Gunther, 1866 is 
found in coastal drainages from Sydney to Adel¬ 
aide, and in Tasmania; it is also found in New 
Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and the Auck¬ 
land and Campbell Islands (McDowall 1980b). 
It is a relatively large, elongate fish known to 
reach 278 mm, with thick, fleshy fins and usually 
with a distinct blue-black patch above the base 
of the pectoral fin (McDowall 1980b). It is 
usually found in small, clear-flowing, forested 
streams, where it often inhabits rocky areas with 
fast-flowing water, and in lakes where it is re¬ 
ported as either living among rocks on the lake 
bed or evenly distributed throughout the body of 
water (Andrews 1976, McDowall 1980b). G. 
brevipinnis is an amphidromous species having a 
marine “whitebait” juvenile stage in New Zea¬ 
land, Tasmania and on the Australian mainland, 
although this is believed to be a facultative 
rather than obligatory phase to its life-cycle 
(McDowall & Frankenberg 1981). Spawning is 
believed to take place in streams in autumn or 
early winter (Koehn & O’Connor 1990); newly- 
hatched young go to sea for several months and 
return when 45-50 mm long (McDowall 1980b). 
However, many land-locked populations have 
been reported from lakes in New Zealand and 
Tasmania, and from one lake on the Australian 
mainland (McDowall & Frankenberg 1981). 
G. brevipinnis has not been recorded pre¬ 
viously from the Murray-Darling system (Allen 
1989), although it is present in coastal streams 
on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia 
near the mouth of the River Murray (McDowall 
& Frankenberg 1981). In this paper we docu¬ 
ment the first records of G. brevipinnis from the 
Murray-Darling Basin and discuss the possible 
reasons for the species’ newly discovered pres¬ 
ence. 
METHODS 
Map grid references, stream names, altitudes 
(from the 1:100,000 National Topographic Map 
17 
