Fishes of the Lake Eyre catchment of central Australia

Abstract

Despite a defining quality of a desert being a lack of water, deserts do have water resources which maintain wildlife, especially aquatic wildlife, much of which cannot survive without permanent water. Around 70% of the land mass of Australia is considered arid and the arid areas can be separated broadly into two regions based on its fishes. The western portion includes the inland drainages from west of the Finke River near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to the edge of the Pilbara in Western Australia. This massive area is largely unexplored for fishes partly because of its remoteness and very scant water resources. The eastern portion, now renamed the Lake Eyre Region, extends from the Finke River east to the Bulloo River at Quilpie and from Mount Isa in Queensland in the north to Broken Hill in New South Wales in the south. This region contains a fascinating assemblage of aquatic animals in a variety of habitats, including a characteristic grouping of fish (33 native species) and the fish communities are in remarkably good condition. The aquatic habitats and the aquatic flora and fauna are described and the management of fishes, wetlands and catchments is discussed. Description, habitat, biology and distribution details are provided for 13 families of fish of the Lake Eyre Region, together small colour photographs.