Murray River Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Castelnau 1878)

Murray River Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis. Source: Gunther Schmida / http://www.guntherschmida.com.au. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial
The Murray River Rainbowfish is the southern-most species in the family Melanotaeniidae.
Identifying features:
Colour variable - silvery-green on sides and above, whitish below (juveniles are translucent);
Scales with a brownish margin;
Gill cover with a pink to reddish spot.
Males have red spots on the dorsal, anal and caudal fins, with a blackish margin when breeding.
Murray River Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Castelnau 1878)
More Info
Distribution |
Known from Roma, QLD to the Murray River, NSW, VIC and SA. The Campaspe River and the Goulburn River, VIC, represent the southern distribution limit. Forms schools in slow-flowing freshwater rivers, wetlands and billabongs. |
Features |
Meristic features: Scales relatively large, thin, horizontal scale rows 10 to 13; vertical scale rows 33 to 36; predorsal scales 14 to 18; preopercle-suborbital scales 8 to 14. Two dorsal fins separated by a small gap, origin of first closer to snout than tail; 1st dorsal fin short based, 2nd long based; anal fin long based; caudal fin moderately forked. |
Size |
To 11 cm SL, commonly to 8.5 cm. |
Colour |
Colour varies with sex, age and habitat; generally silvery with a greenish irridescence and whitish on lower head and belly; most scales with a brownish margin; pink to reddish spot on operculum; males with red spots on dorsal, caudal and anal fins and fins of breeding males with a black margin (females and immatures with clear fins). |
Feeding |
Omnivores - feed on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and some filamentous algae. |
Biology |
Usually breed during spring and summer when water temperatures exceed 20°C. Over a number of days, females deposit a few adhesive eggs at a time onto vegetation. Eggs - 1.3-1.8 mm diameter. Larvae hatch at 2.0-3.7mm TL after about a week, and cling to plants for around 2 days before becoming free-swimming. |
Species Citation |
Aristeus fluviatilis Castelnau, 1878, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (1)3(2): 141. Type locality: Murrumbidgee River, NSW, Ropes Creek, near Sydney. |
Author |
Martin F. Gomon & Dianne J. Brray |
Resources |
Names list: |
Murray River Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Castelnau 1878)
References
Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field guide to the freshwater fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp.
Backhouse, G.N.& D.J. Frusher. 1980. The crimson-spotted rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Castelnau 1878). Vict. Nat. 97: 144-148.
Cadwallader, P.L. & Backhouse, G.N. 1983. A Guide to the Freshwater Fish of Victoria. Melbourne : F.D. Atkinson Government Printer 249 pp.
Castelnau, F.L. de 1878. On some new Australian (chiefly) freshwater fishes. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1 3(2): 140-144
Crowley, L.E.L.M., Ivantsoff, W. & Allen, G.R. 1986. Taxonomic position of two crimson-spotted rainbowfish, Melanotaenia duboulayi and Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Pisces: Melanotaeniidae), from Eastern Australia, with special reference to their early life-history stages. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 37: 385–398
Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.
Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp.
Growns, I. 2004. A numerical classification of reproductive guilds of the freshwater fishes of south-eastern Australia and their application to river management. Fisheries Management and Ecology 11(6): 369-377.
Humphries, P., A.J. King & J.D. Koehn. 1999. Fish, flows and flood plains: links between freshwater fishes and their Environment in the Murray-Darling River System, Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes 56(1-2): 129-151.
King, A.J. 2004. Ontogenetic patterns of habitat use by fishes within the main channel of an Australian floodplain river. Journal of Fish Biology 65(6): 1582–1603.
Koehn, J.D. & O'Connor, W.G. 1990. Biological information for management of native freshwater fish in Victoria. Department of Conservation and Environment, Victoria,
Leggett, R. & Merrick, J.R. 1987. Australian Native Fishes for Aquariums. Artarmon : J.R. Merrick Publications 241 pp.
Lintermans, M. 2007. Fishes of the Murray Darling Basin. An Introductory Guide. Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Canberra, Australia.
Lloyd, L.N. & K.F. Walker. 1986. Distribution and conservation status of small freshwater fishes in the River Murray, South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 110: 40-57.
McDowall, R.M. 1996. Freshwater Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Sydney : Reed Books 2nd Edn 247 pp.
McGuigan, K.L., D. Zhu, G.R. Allen & C. Moritz. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of melanotaeniid fishes in Australia and New Guinea. Marine and Freshwater Research 51: 713-723.
Milton, D.A. & A.H. Arthington. 1984. Reproductive strategy and growth of the crimson-spotted rainbowfish, Melanotaenia splendida fluviatilis (Castelnau) (Pisces : Melanotaeniidae) in south-eastern Queensland. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 35(1): 75-83.
Reid, H.P. & D.A. Holdway. 1995. Early development of the Australian crimson-spotted rainbowfish, Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Pisces: Melanotaeniidae). Marine and Freshwater Research 46(2): 475 - 480.
Smith, B.B., Conallin, A. & Vilizzi, L. 2009. Regional Patterns in the Distribution, Diversity and Relative Abundance of Wetland Fishes of the River Murray, South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 133(2): 339-360.
Wedderburn, S. & Hammer, M. 2003. The Lower Lakes fish inventory: distribution and conservation of freshwater fishes of the Ramsar Convention wetland at the terminus of the Murray-Darling Basin, South Australia. Native fish Australia (SA) Inc., Adelaide. 38 p.