80 
J. D. KOEHN AND T. A. RAADIK 
Total 
Site 
Map No. & 
Altitude 
Date 
No. 
Length 
No. 
Waterway 
Grid Ref. 
(m) 
Sampled 
Collected 
Range (mm) 
Assoc. Species 
1 
Freshwater Creek A 
8119 493746 
20 
29.10.80 
5 
37-75* 
Sfeel,Cgal 
(tributary) 
16.12.80 
10 
2 
Wye River 8 
7620 514196 
10 
14.09.83 
1 
93* 
Amm,Cgal,Agrayl, 
Tup,Btr 
3 
Calder River (drain) 
7620 178056 
20 
17.10.90 
1 
90 
Sfeel,Cgal 
4 
Aire River (drain) 
7520 147063 
10 
31.05.90 
2 
56-57 
Sfeel,Cgal 
24.08.90 
5 
74-96 
Sgal,Bgal,Bsg 
17.10.90 
2 
85-90 
— 
5 
Aire R (billabong) 
7520 151068 
15 
16.10.90 
1 
80 
— 
amm — lamprey ammocoetes, Geotria australis or Mordacia mordax 
Cgal = common galaxias, Galaxias maculatus 
Sfeel = short-finned eel, Anguilla australis 
Sgal = spotted galaxias, Galaxias truttaceus 
Bgal = broad-finned galaxias, Galaxias brevipinnis 
Tup = tupong, Pseudaphritis urvillii 
Btr = brown trout* Salmo trutta 
Agrayl = Australian grayling, Prototroctes maraena 
Bsg = blue-spot goby, Pseudogobius olorum 
A from Jackson & Davies (1982) 
B from Koehn & O'Connor (1990a) 
* standard lengths 
Table 1. Summary of site and collection details for Galaxias cleaveri in Victoria. 
nis collected were juveniles migrating upstream 
to adult habitat. 
The association of eels and other species of 
galaxiids with New Zealand mudfish ( Neo - 
channa spp.) has been observed by Eldon (1968), 
and G . cleaveri has been associated with other 
galaxiids and with southern pygmy perch, Nan- 
noperca australis Gunther (Scott 1936, 1971). 
In G. cleaveri habitats surveyed on mainland 
Australia the other resident gaiaxiid species are 
essentially free-swimming, whereas G. cleaveri is 
benthic. Thus G. cleaveri may face natural 
interspecific competition or predation only 
from eels which are also benthic and may occupy 
similar habitats. 
Biogeography 
The distribution of freshwater native fishes in 
the Otway region appears to be primarily related 
to geomorphological conditions that existed 
during and after the last glaciation 5,000-20,000 
years ago (Koehn & O’Connor 1990a). Such con¬ 
ditions restricted non-diadromous freshwater 
species to the larger Barwon River system to the 
north and to the Aire and Gellibrand River 
systems to the south-west, whereas only diadro- 
mous species inhabit the short coastal streams. 
The diadromous lifecycle of G. cleaveri accounts 
for its occurrence in the Wye River. 
Frankenberg (1974) suggested that G. trutta¬ 
ceus and G. brevipinnis , both species with life- 
cycles similar to that of G. cleaveri , may have 
migrated to mainland Australia from Tasmania 
when a land bridge existed during the Pleisto¬ 
cene glaciation. A similar migration may be sug¬ 
gested for G. cleaveri. Fulton (1986) described a 
return to fresh water by juvenile G. cleaveri and 
suggested a marine phase in the species’ lifecycle 
(Fulton 1990). The distribution and residency of 
the larval phase of G. cleaveri is unknown, as is 
the possibility of land-locked populations of the 
species not possessing a marine life phase. Such 
populations are known in other normally 
diadromous gaiaxiid species (Pollard 1972, 
Humphries 1989, Fulton 1990, McDowall 
1990). 
The present distribution of G. cleaveri closely 
conforms to the region encompassed by the land 
bridge (Wilsons Promontory to Cape Otway). 
Larvae developing in marine waters would be 
dispersed more widely and the species would be 
expected to be more widely distributed. The oc¬ 
currence of larval galaxiids as far as 700 km from 
the coast of New Zealand supports the theory of 
McDowall (1978) that long-range dispersal of 
