Greenway's Grunter, Hannia greenwayi Vari 1978


Other Names: Boornda, Emana/Wanggari

Greenway's Grunter, Hannia greenwayi, from the Fitzroy River, Western Australia. Source: David Morgan / FishBase. License: All rights reserved

Summary:
A small slender golden to silvery-grey grunter with large dark-edged scales and a lower part of the caudal fin. Juveniles have a dark spot at the soft dorsal and anal-fin bases. Large adults may have thick blubbery lips, and captured individuals may appear to have broad vertical bars.

Cite this page as:
Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2021, Hannia greenwayi in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2514

Greenway's Grunter, Hannia greenwayi Vari 1978

More Info


Distribution

Widespread in the Fitzroy River system, and also occurs in the Isdell and Calder rivers, of the Kimberley region, Western Australia.

Prefers slow to moderate flowing streams in clear or slightly turbid water over sandy to rocky substrates. 

Features

Dorsal fin XII-XIV, 8-11; Anal fin III, 7-9; Caudal fin 13; Pectoral fin 13-16; Pelvic fin I, 5; Lateral line 32-38; Transverse Scales 4-5/1/10-13; Vertebrae 10+15; Gill rakers: 6-8 + 1 + 13-16.

Body oblong to ovate, moderately deep, depth 2.3-2.9 in SL; compressed; dorsal and ventral profiles almost evenly arched. Head length 2.7-3.0 in SL; snout length 2.3-3.2 in HL; nostrils distant; separated by a distance equal to one-half of eye diameter; eye width 3.1-4.1 in HL, getting relatively smaller with increasing SL. Interorbital region with bony ridges. Jaws equal, length 2.8-3.7 in HL, getting relatively larger with increasing SL; lips enlarged into pads in some adults, with lower lips forming a lateral fleshy pad; gape oblique; maxillary reaching to vertical through posterior nostril; teeth in bands, conic, outer row enlarged; no teeth on vomer or palatines. Lacrimal with 4-6 serrations along posteroventral edge. Preoperculum serrate; serrations largest on angle. Lower opercular spine longer and stronger; not extending beyond edge of opercular lobe. Posttemporal not exposed; covered with skin and scales. Cleithrum exposed; serrate posteriorly; scales on side. Supracleithrum exposed.

Scales finely ctenoid; lateral line continuous, smoothly curved; 3-5 caudal scales; 9-11 predorsal scales to occiput; cheek scales in 4-5 rows; one row of scales in sheath at base of spinous dorsal, sheath extending to fourth to sixth dorsal ray; 2-3 rows of scales in sheath at base of anal fin, sheath extending to fourth to sixth anal ray; 32-38 lateral line scales.

Dorsal fin continuous, base 1.9-2.2 in SL; spinous portion arched; fifth spine longest, 1.8-2.1 in HL, those following decreasing in length gradually to penultimate, which is slightly shorter than last; longest dorsal ray 1.9-2.4 in HL; soft dorsal rounded. Second anal spine strongest, 2.0-2.7 in HL, longer than third, shorter than longest anal rays, 1.8-2.3 in HL, soft anal rounded. Pectoral fin asymmetrically pointed; fifth or sixth ray longest. Ventral fins pointed; first ray longest; reaching to anus. Pelvic insertion anterior to vertical drawn through dorsal origin. Caudal emarginate.

Size

To 14 cm SL, commonly 7-9 cm SL

Colour

Overall body coloration uniformly greyish, paler below; each scale dark-edged, intensity of pigmentation increasing dorsally; scales at base of dorsal fin paler. Top of head from tip of snout to insertion of first scale row dark; horizontal band of pigmentation running along ventral and posterior edges of orbit to level of dorsal edge of eye; another band directed dorsally from middle of opercle and joining dark pigmentation on top of head. Membranes between dorsal fin spines dusky along anterior edge of spines; soft portion of dorsal fin, anal fin, and caudal fin dusky distally. Pectoral and pelvic fins slightly pigmented.

Feeding

Omnivore - feeds mostly on insect larvae and to a lesser degree, algae.

Biology

Little is known of the reproductive biology of this species.

Fisheries

Small numbers are taken by Indigenous  communities in The Kimberley. The species may also be taken for use as bait fish to catch larger fishes such as Barramundi (Lates calcarifer).

Remarks

Australian First Peoples language names: Boornda (Gooniyandi language group), Emana/Wanggari (Ngarinyin language group)

Similar Species

Small bodied relative to congener, (up to 110 mm SL), often <80 mm SL; nape profile straight between posterior occiput and first dorsal spine; pectoral fin rays usually 13 (13–15); preopercular spines usually less than 16 (0–16); postorbital length usually <35.0 % HL (streams between the Fitzroy River and Glenelg River, western Kimberley).

Etymology

The species is named in honour of James C. Greenway, Jr., of the Department of Ornithology, the American Museum of Natural History, who provided financial support for the American Museum of Natural History expedition to Western Australia, which collected the type series.

Species Citation

Hannia greenwayi Vari, 1978, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 159(5): 244. Type locality: Hann River at Moll Gorge, 15 miles northeast of the Mount House homestead, Western Australia,  16° 58’ 36.1”S, 125° 59’ 51.5”E.

Author

Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2021

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Greenway's Grunter, Hannia greenwayi Vari 1978

References


Allen, G.R. 1982. Inland Fishes of Western Australia.  Perth : Western Australian Museum 86 pp. 6 figs 20 pls.

Allen, G.R. 1989. Freshwater Fishes of Australia.  Neptune, New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications 240 pp. pls 1–63.

Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field guide to the freshwater fishes of Australia.  Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp.

Davis, A.M., Unmack, P.J., Pusey, B.J., Johnson, J.B. & Pearson, R.G. 2012. Marine-freshwater transitions are associated with the evolution of dietary diversification in terapontid grunters (Teleostei: Terapontidae). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 25(6): 1163-1179

Jackson, S., Finn, M. & Featherston, P. 2012. Aquatic resource use by Indigenous Australians in two tropical river catchments: the Fitzroy River and Daly River. Human Ecology 40(6): 893-908. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-012-9518-z

Merrick, J.R. & Schmida, G.E. 1984. Australian Freshwater Fishes Biology and Management.  Sydney : J.R. Merrick 409 pp. figs 280 col. figs.

Morgan, D.L. 2019. Hannia greenwayi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T9670A123377864. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T9670A123377864.en. Downloaded on 03 February 2021.

Morgan, D.L., Allen, M.G., Bedford, P. & Horstman, M. 2004. Fish fauna of the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley region of Western Australia - including the Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Ngarinyin, Nyikina and Walmajarri Aboriginal names. Records of the Western Australian Museum 22: 147-161. https://doi.org/10.18195/issn.0312-3162.22(2).2004.147-161

Morgan, D.L., Allen, G.R., Pusey, B.J. & Burrows, D.W. 2011. A review of the freshwater fishes of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Zootaxa 2816: 1-64. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2816.1.1

Shelley, J.J., Delaval, A. Le Feuvre, M.C., Dempster, T., Raadik, T.A. & Swearer, S.E. 2020. Revision of the genus Hannia (Teleostei, Terapontidae), with description of a new species, Hannia wintoni, from the Kimberley, Western Australia. Zootaxa 4869(4): 562-586 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4869.4.5

Shelley, J.J., Gomon, M.F. & Le Feuvre, M.C. 2018. Family Terapontidae, pp. 118-158 in Shelley, J.J., Morgan, D.L., Hammer, M.P., Le Feuvre, M.C., Moore, G.I., Gomon, M.F., Allen, M.G. & Saunders, T. (eds) A field guide to the freshwater fishes of the Kimberley. Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, 262 pp.

Vari, R.P. 1978. The terapon perches (Percoidei, Terapontidae) a cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 159(5): 175-340 figs 1-94 http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1273

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37321011

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Habitat:Freshwater streams

Max Size:14 cm SL

Native:Endemic

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