Banded Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia trifasciata (Rendahl 1922)

Other Names: Banded Rainbow Fish, Bedjal, Goyder River Rainbowfish, Striped Sunfish, Three-banded Sun-fish

Summary:

This popular aquarium fish is variable in colour - often greenish to bluish on the back and sides, and silvery to whitish on the breast, belly and lower part of the head, with a dark midlateral stripe and yellowish to bright red dorsal, anal and caudal fins.

Banded Rainbowfish in an aquarium

Banded Rainbowfish in the Territory Wildlife Park, Northern Territory

Cite this page as:

Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2022, Melanotaenia trifasciata in Fishes of Australia, accessed 10 Jul 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3048

Banded Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia trifasciata (Rendahl 1922)

More Info

Distribution	northern parts of the Northern Territory, Cape York Peninsula and the northern part of the Wet Tropics (Queensland) in Australia. The distribution extends .Northern Australia, from from Melville Island (north of Darwin), Northern Territory, east to the Mossman River north of Cairns, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Inhabits small shady clear streams, small creeks, and deep shady pools in semi-rainforest and grasslands. The species prefers well-vegetated areas with clear flowing waters and rocky or gravelly substrates. Individuals may sometimes occur in partly stagnant waterholes with leaf litter bottoms during the dry season.
Features	Dorsal fin V-VI; I, 12-16; Anal fin I, 18-23; Pectoral fin 14-17 Body moderately elongate and compressed, greatest body depth (% SL) (adults > 50 mm SL): males 35.8-45.1, females 32.5-35.4; head length (% SL) 28.1-30.2; older males develop a very deep body and humped forehead; snout length (% SL)8.8-10.4; eye diameter (% SL)7.0-9.8; jaw teeth conical, vomer with a solid band of well-developed teeth; teeth present on palatines; lateral line absent Scales cycloid to slightly crenulate with well-developed radii; large, horizontal scale rows 11 or 12; vertical scale rows 33 to 36; predorsal scales 13 to 16; preopercle-suborbital scales 8 to 12. Two separate dorsal fins, the first originating about over the origin of the anal fin; posterior margin of second dorsal and anal fins elongate and pointed in males; anal fin long based; pectoral fins slightly pointed; caudal fin moderately forked.
Size	To 13 cm SL, commonly to 8 cm.
Colour	Colour varies greatly with geographic locality; often greenish blue overall and silvery-white ventrally; indigo or blue black stripe often present mid-laterally; median fins various shades of yellow to bright red.
Feeding	Omnivore - feeds on filamentous algae, aquatic and terrestrial insects, micro-crustaceans and other small invertebrates.
Biology	Reproduction occurs throughout the year. Females spawn 60-70 eggs per spawning, depositing them into aquatic vegetation. The spherical eggs are golden in colour with adhesive filaments. Larvae hatch at a, and are well developed with a reduced yolk sac, a fully formed mouth and pectoral fins. Feeding commences within 24 hours of hatching.
Remarks	The common name Bedjal is the Yolngu word for the Banded Rainbowfish from Gulbuwangay, a small creek running into the Arafura Swamp near Mirrngatja, a small village on the SE corner of the Arafura Swamp (Dave Wilson, Aquagreen).
Etymology	The specific name trifasciata is from the Latin tri- (= three) and fasciata (= banded) in reference to the broad dark mid-lateral stripe bounded above and below by narrow pale stripes.
Species Citation	Rhombosoma trifasciata Rendahl, 1922, Meddr. Zool. Mus. Kristiania 5: 182. Type locality: Mary River, Northern Territory
Author	Gomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. 2022
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Banded Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia trifasciata (Rendahl 1922)

References

Allen, G.R. 1978. The rainbowfishes of northwestern Australia (family Melanotaeniidae). Tropical Fish Hobbyist 26(10): 91-102 figs 1-15

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

Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Cross, N.J. 1982. Rainbowfishes of Australia and Papua-New Guinea. New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications 142 pp. figs.

Hammer, M., Brown, C. & Unmack, P. 2019. Melanotaenia trifasciata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T123357148A123382716. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T123357148A123382716.en. Accessed on 08 August 2022.

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293

Larson, H.K. & Martin, K.C. 1990. Freshwater Fishes of the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences Handbook Series Number 1. Darwin : Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences 102 pp. 73 figs.

Leggett, R. & Merrick, J.R. 1987. Australian Native Fishes for Aquariums. Artarmon : J.R. Merrick Publications 241 pp. 142 figs.

Martin, K.C. & Barclay, S. 2013. New distribution records for the Cairns rainbowfish Cairnsichthys rhombosomoides (Melanotaeniidae): implications for conservation of a restricted northern population. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 19(3): 155-164

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

Pusey, B.J., Burrows, D.W., Kennard, M.J., Perna, C.N., Unmack, P.J., Allsop, Q. & Hammer, M.P. 2017. Freshwater fishes of northern Australia. Zootaxa 4253(1): 1-104 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4253.1.1

Rendahl, H. 1922. A contribution to the ichthyology of north-west Australia. Meddelelser fra det Zoologiske Museum. Kristiania 5: 163-197 figs 1-6 See ref at BHL