GALAXIAS BREVIPINNIS IN NORTH-EASTERN VICTORIA 
21 
G. olidus have been lodged at the Museum of 
Victoria. 
RESULTS 
The numbers of each fish species caught at each 
of the 50 sites sampled between 21 March and 1 
June 1990 are given in the Appendix. G . brevi- 
pinnis was caught at 11 sites, nine of which were 
in the catchment of the upper River Murray and 
two in the catchment of the Kiewa River (Figs 1 
and 2). 
Distribution of G. brevipinnis 
On 26 January 1989 three specimens of G. brevi¬ 
pinnis were collected from one rocky pool in 
Keotong Creek (site 31). The only other species 
of fish collected from this site were the exotic 
brown trout, Salmo trutta, and rainbow 
irouUOncorkynchus mykiss, although the two- 
spined blackfish, Gadopsis bispinosus, was re¬ 
corded 2 km downstream below a series of falls. 
On 21 March 1990 another specimen of G. brevi¬ 
pinnis was collected at site 31 and three more 
specimens from further upstream (site 30). 
Between 23 March 1990 and 1 June 1990 G . 
brevipinnis were recorded at nine sites extending 
from Jams Creek near Tallangatta (site 39) up¬ 
stream to an unnamed tributary of Cudgewa 
Creek, 13 km north-west of Corryong (site 20, 
Fig. 1). Five of these sites were in small streams 
draining directly into Lake Hume and four sites 
were in small streams draining directly into the 
River Murray or its tributaries. 
Because these results indicated that G. brevi¬ 
pinnis was widely distributed in the catchment 
of the Hume Weir, sampling was extended to the 
catchment of the Kiewa River, the first major 
tributary entering the River Murray below the 
weir. G.brevipinnis was recorded from two of the 
ten sites sampled on tributaries of the lower 
reaches of the Kiewa River (Fig. 2). 
G. brevipinnis was caught at sites within an 
altitude range of 210-530 m; the range for all 
sites was 210-790 m. At sites where G. brevi¬ 
pinnis wets caught streams ranged from the very 
small (widths less than 1 m; maximum depths 
about 300 mm (sites 20, 43)) to larger (widths 5 
m; maximum depths of pools more than 2 m 
(site 31)). These sites, like most sites we selected, 
frequently had rock and boulder substrates, but 
G. brevipinnis was also recorded at one site (site 
45) where the substrate was predominantly sand 
and finer sediment and where the stream flowed 
comparatively slowly. 
Riparian vegetation at the sites where G. brevi¬ 
pinnis was caught ranged from essentially undis¬ 
turbed native vegetation (sites 29-31, 43) to 
introduced grasses on grazing land (site 39) or 
introduced trees (site 45). G. brevipinnis was also 
caught in pools in the headwater sections of in¬ 
termittent streams which became subterranean 
further downstream (sites 26, 39). 
Co-habiting species 
G. olidus was found at 16 sites, including six sites 
(sites 20, 21, 25, 29, 32 and 39) where G. brevi¬ 
pinnis was also caught. A chi-square test of the 2 
x 2 contingency table indicated that the presence 
of G. brevipinnis was independent of the pres¬ 
ence of G. olidus (X 2 = 2.079, p > 0.05). 
Salmo trutta was found with G. brevipinnis at 
five sites (Sites 30, 31, 39, 43, and 45), with G. 
olidus at four sites (Sites 1, 10, 37, 39) and alone 
at 23 other sites.Chi-square tests indicated that 
the presence of S. trutta had a significant effect 
on the presence of G. olidus (X 2 = 8.621, P < 
0.01) but that the presence of G. brevipinnis was 
independent of the presence of S. trutta (X 2 = 
0.862, P > 0.05). 
The only other species of fish found with G. 
brevipinnis were Gadopsis bispinosus (site 21) 
and Oncorhynchus mykiss (sites 30, 31, and 43). 
Other species recorded during the surveys were 
freshwater blackfish, Gadopsis marmoratus 
(sites 4, 12 and 38), southern pigmy-perch, 
Nannoperca australis (site 46) and redfin, Perea 
jluviatilis (site 37). 
Reproductive condition 
Comparisons of the maturity stages, GSI and 
maximum egg diameters for G. brevipinnis col¬ 
lected in March, May and June indicate that 
spawning had taken place in April or early May. 
In samples collected later the proportion of fish 
with more mature gonads (Stage IV) was 
smaller, mean GSI values for both females and 
males were much lower, and the maximum size 
of oocytes was also much smaller. These differ¬ 
ences are not due to differences in the size of fish 
caught in the two time periods: the later samples 
contained more larger female fish, and the mean 
size and the size range of males were similar (Fig. 
3, Table 1). Between these sampling periods 
water temperatures were falling and stream 
flows had substantially increased following rain¬ 
fall over the area in mid-April. After further 
heavy rainfall, sampling on 17—18 May was cur¬ 
tailed because high water velocities and high 
