Fish Field Guide North Central CMA

North Central CMA is supporting communities across our region to restore waterways and fish populations. Discover the range of fish species living in our rivers and lakes.

Download a copy of the North Central CMA Fish Field Guide at ...more ↓

Short-headed Lamprey (Mordacia mordax)

Mordacia mordax, known as the short-headed lamprey, Australian lamprey or Murray lamprey, is a species of southern topeyed lamprey that lives in south-eastern Australia. It has a thin eel-like body up to 50 cm long, with two low dorsal fins on the back half. The skin is blue-gray or brown. Its eyes are small, and located on the top of its head.

Bony Bream (Nematalosa erebi)

Bony bream Nematalosa erebi are a widespread and common, small to medium-sized Australian freshwater fish often found in large shoals throughout much of northern and central Australia, and the Murray-Darling basin.

Common Galaxias (Galaxias maculatus)

The common galaxias (Galaxias maculatus) or inanga (from the Māori īnanga) is a very widespread Southern Hemisphere fish in the family Galaxiidae. It is slim, narrow fish with a forked tail and a mottled, spotty pattern, typically about 10 cm (4 in) long when fully grown. It lives in fresh water, but spawns at river mouths and spends the first six months of its ...more ↓

Mountain Galaxias (Galaxias olidus)

Galaxias olidus, the mountain galaxias, is a species of freshwater galaxiid fish widely found in southeastern Australia.​​

Flat-headed Galaxias (Galaxias rostratus)

The flathead galaxias (Galaxias rostratus) is a freshwater fish found in lowland rivers and streams and associated billabongs, backwaters, etc. of the southern Murray-Darling river system in Australia.

Spotted Galaxias (Galaxias truttaceus)

Spotted galaxias (Galaxias truttaceus) is a largish, primarily-freshwater galaxias species found in southern Australia. Spotted galaxias are perhaps the most beautiful of the Australian galaxias species. They are a somewhat tubular, deep-bodied fish, with a dusky brownish-red colouration overlain with dark, haloed spots, dramatic black edges to dorsal, anal and pelvic fins, and ...more ↓

Australian Smelt (Retropinna semoni)

The Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni) is a small, pelagic silvery freshwater fish found in large numbers in waters of the south eastern Australian mainland.

Freshwater Catfish (Tandanus tandanus)

The eel-tailed catfish, Tandanus tandanus, is a species of catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Plotosidae. This fish is also known as dewfish, freshwater catfish, jewfish, and tandan.

Murray Hardyhead (Craterocephalus fluviatilis)

The Murray hardyhead (Craterocephalus fluviatilis) is a species of fish in the Atherinidae family endemic to inland parts of south-eastern Australia. The fish is an omnivore, feeding on small crustaceans, aquatic insects and algae.

Murray-Darling Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis)

The Australian rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis), known less commonly as the Murray River rainbowfish or the crimson-spotted rainbowfish, is a species of freshwater rainbowfish endemic to Australia. They are very colourful, hence their name; males of this species are more colourful than females. Australian rainbowfish are schooling fish and will congregate ...more ↓

Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua)

The golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured Australian freshwater fish species found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, and another subspecies, suspected to be ancestral to all other populations, is found in the Fitzroy River system in Queensland. Golden perch are ...more ↓

Macquarie Perch (Macquaria australasica)

The Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica) is an Australian native freshwater fish of the Murray-Darling river system. It is a member of the Percichthyidae family and is closely related to the golden perch (Macquaria ambigua).

Trout Cod (Maccullochella macquariensis)

Trout cod or bluenose cod, Maccullochella macquariensis, is a large predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the family Percichthyidae, closely related to the Murray cod. It was originally widespread in the south-east corner of the Murray-Darling river system in Australia, but is now endangered.

Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii)

The Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii) is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the genus Maccullochella in the family Percichthyidae. Although the species is called a cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the Northern Hemisphere marine cod (Gadus) species. The Murray cod is an important part of Australia's vertebrate wildlife—as an apex predator in ...more ↓

Silver Perch (Bidyanus bidyanus)

The silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus) is a medium-sized freshwater fish of the family Terapontidae endemic to the Murray-Darling river system in south-eastern Australia.

Southern Purple-spotted Gudgeon (Mogurnda adspersa)

Mogurnda adspersa (commonly known as the southern purple-spotted gudgeon) is a species of endangered gudgeon that is endemic to southeastern Australia. The fish is brown, although the shade becomes lighter near its abdomen. Spots of various colors occur on its sides. After a dramatic population decline in the late 20th century, the fish was thought to be extinct, but it ...more ↓

Flathead Gudgeon (Philypnodon grandiceps)

The flathead gudgeon (Philypnodon grandiceps) is a species of sleeper goby endemic to eastern Australia.

Southern Pygmy Perch (Nannoperca australis)

The southern pygmy perch (Nannoperca australis), also known as the Tasmanian pygmy perch, is a freshwater fish native to southeastern Australia.

Carp Gudgeon species complex (Hypseleotris spp)

Hypseleotris is a genus of sleeper gobies. Most are from fresh water in Australia and New Guinea, but species in fresh and brackish water are found around islands in the western Indian Ocean, southern and eastern Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Pacific islands. The largest species reaches a length of 12 cm (4.7 in). They are sometimes seen in the aquarium trade; ...more ↓

Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

The common carp or European carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The native wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is ...more ↓

Goldfish (Carassius auratus)

The goldfish (Carassius auratus) is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish.

Eastern Gambusia (Gambusia holbrooki)

The eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) is a species of freshwater fish, closely related to the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The eastern mosquitofish is native to the eastern and southern United States from Florida to Delaware and inland to Alabama and Tennessee, while the western ...more ↓

Oriental Weatherloach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)

The pond loach, dojo loach (ドジョウ, dojō), or oriental/Japanese weather loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus), is a freshwater fish in the loach family Cobitidae. They are native to East Asia but are also popular as an aquarium fish and introduced elsewhere in Asia and to Europe, North America and Australia. The alternate name weather loach is shared with ...more ↓

Tench (Tinca tinca)

The tench or doctor fish (Tinca tinca) is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the cyprinid family found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal. It normally inhabits slow-moving freshwater habitats, particularly lakes and lowland rivers. In Germany, the tench is ...more ↓

Edited by nccma_citizenscience, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)