queensland Lungfish History.

[rayke1938]

The Australian Lungfish is restricted to the river systems of south-eastern Queensland.

The Australian Lungfish occurs naturally in the Burnett, Mary, and possibly Brisbane and North Pine, Rivers. In 1897, 78 adult fish were translocated from the Mary River, at Miva, to various waterways further south: in the North Pine (8), Condamine (21) and Coomera (16) Rivers; in a lagoon near the Albert River (5); in a dam near Cressbrook on the upper Brisbane River (8); in the Enoggera Reservoir (18); and in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (2). Translocations were undertaken because the natural historians of the time could not locate juvenile Australian Lungfish, and the general consensus was that the Australian Lungfish were becoming extinct within their natural distribution. There have not been any recent surveys to ascertain whether the introductions into the Coomera and Condamine Rivers were successful. Recent sampling at several sites on the Albert River did not record this species.

The species is not listed under the EPBC Act. It was listed as 'non-threatened' in the Action Plan for Freshwater Fishes (1993). A nomination in 1997, under the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992, to have the species listed as endangered was unsuccessful. The nomination was assessed by the Endangered Species Scientific Subcommittee as not meeting the relevant criteria as “its numbers have not been reduced to such a critical level, and its habitats so drastically reduced, that it is in immediate danger of extinction.”

In Queensland, it is not listed as threatened under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992. The taking of Australian Lungfish has been prohibited since they were declared a protected species under the Queensland Fish and Oyster Act 1914. It is currently protected from fishing, and collection requires a permit, in Queensland under the Fisheries Act 1994.

[Binder]

I have an old Grant's guide which describes the movement of the lungfish as described in Ray's info - in wagons packed in wet straw. They are very tough beasties!

Certainly no shortage of them in North Pine.

 

[John]

http://blog.fishesofaustralia.net.au/?p=245

 

The Australian lungfish – a ‘living fossil’ and survivor since the age of dinosaurs!

no commentsPublished on August 9, 2012 by dbray

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Written by: Alice Clement

The Australian lungfish, or Neoceratodus forsteri as it is also known, is by no means just another fish. It is the sole remaining member of its family alive today, and has a history extending back to the time of the dinosaurs. Interestingly, fossils of the Australian lungfish were described years before the living animal became known to modern science (although the indigenous Australians had known of its existence for thousands of years). Lungfish tooth plates of Cretaceous age (more than 65 million years old) have been discovered in New South Wales, and are indistinguishable from those of living lungfish. It is for this reason Neoceratodus is often described as a ‘living fossil’ as it is the most enduring vertebrate species on Earth! Unbelievable – imagine if  T-Rex or Muttaburrasaurus (an Australian dinosaur) were still roaming around!

The Australian lungfish at Museum Victoria (photo: A. Clement)

As its name suggests, lungfish have both gills and lungs with which to breathe oxygen. This was one of the reasons scientists had such trouble deciding what sort of animal Neoceratodus and its kin were. Some claimed it was ‘undoubtedly a reptile’, others considered it an amphibian, and others still thought it was a perfect intermediate between fish and amphibians. It is now widely accepted that lungfish are indeed fish, in fact they are one of only two groups of ‘lobe-fins,’ or sarcopterygian fish still alive today- other than the coelacanth. This makes them the closest living sister taxa to the tetrapods, the group that includes land animals (such as us!) In other words they are sort of like our ‘fishy cousins.’

 Neoceratodus – the most enduring vertebrate species on Earth!(photo: A. Clement)

There are three extant genera of lungfishes; the Australian lungfish, Lepidosiren from South America and four species of Protopterus from Africa.  Neoceratodus is considered the most primitive of all six living species. The Australian lungfish comes to the water surface to gulp air during times of high activity (such as when feeding or during mating season) or when swimming in stagnant pools low in oxygen.  The African lungfish however, can actually survive breathing air cocooned in dry mud for up to six months waiting for the rains to return! Lungfish burrows with remains fossilised inside them are known since Permian times (roughly 250-300 million years ago), but the history of the group extends back much further to the Devonian Period, over 400 million years ago.

Neoceratodus looks very different from its earliest ancestors; the fins have merged to form a continuous body fin, the skeleton is now almost completely cartilaginous and the dentition is made of distinctive seven-bladed crushing tooth plates. Adult lungfish can grow to more than 1.5 metres and weigh up to 40 kilograms, with some research suggesting that the fish may live up to 100 years. Neoceratodus is currently listed as a vulnerable species under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and with a history like that you can see why they warrant protection! Their biggest threat to survival is the destruction of suitable habitat for spawning, or from competition with introduced species.  You can come and see one of these great Australian icons for yourself in the Evolution Exhibition in the Science and Life Gallery at Melbourne Museum, Victoria (pictured below). What a lovely, lovely fish!

Neoceratodus, a lobe-finned fish (photo: A. Clement)

Dr. Alice Clement recently completed her doctorate at Museum Victoria (in conjunction with Australian National Univeristy, Canberra) on lungfishes. Her Ph.D focussed on both the living and extinct members, but particularly the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus, and fossils from the Devonian Period, the ‘Age of Fishes’ (359-416 million years ago.) Her research touched on diverse themes such as anatomy, taxonomy, speciation, phylogeny, ecology, and biomechanics.

 

Further reading: 

• Chang, M. M. and Yu, X. 1984. Structure and phylogenetic significance of Diabolichthys speratus gen. et sp. nov., a new dipnoan-like form from the Lower Devonian of eastern Yunnan, China. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 107, 171-184.
• Günther, A. 1871. Description of Ceratodus, a genus of ganoid fishes recently discovered in rivers of Queensland, Australia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (Biology), 161, 511-571.
• Janvier, P. 1996. Early Vertebrates. Oxford University Press, New York.
• Kemp, A. and Molnar, R. E. 1981. Neoceratodus forsteri from the Lower Cretaceous of New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Palaeontology, 55, 211-217.
• Krefft, G. 1870. Description of a gigantic amphibian allied to the genus Lepidosiren, from the Wide-Bay district, Queensland. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1870, 221-224.
• Miles, R. S. 1977. Dipnoan (lungfish) skulls and the relationships of the group: a study based on new species from the Devonian of Australia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 61, 1-328.
• Mlewa, C. M., Green, J. M. and Dunbrack, R. L. 2011. The general natural history of the African lungfishes. In J. M. Jørgensen and J. Joss (eds). The Biology of Lungfishes. Vol 1. Science Publishers, Enfield, USA, 97-128.
• Pearson, H. 2006. Dam project threatens living fossil. Nature, 442, 232-233.

[Glenn S]

Thanks for the info fellas.

 

Cheers, Glenn.