RE: Killifish threat

Andrew Hamilton (andrewha at tafe.sa.edu.au)
Wed, 25 Sep 1996 08:59:46 -0700

>evidence of aestivation in the Melbourne population of pusilla in
>Tirhatuan Flats. (I wonder if dambusia have finally finished them off
>there or not?) No one has done the obvious experiment of finding a place
>where they live, waiting for it to dry out for a while and then filling
>it up with water. I should probably also mention that it is thought

Quoted from 'The Galaxiid Fishes of Australia' - Mc Dowall and Frankenberg;
"G. pusilla is possibly able to aestivate during some life history stage.
Miss J. Barclay (Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne) collected a
sample from a swamp near the confluence of Diamond Creek with the Bunyip
River. On returning to obtain more specimens at a later date the habitat had
dried up and it was noy until a further visit, after rains when water
returned to the swamp, that further, mostly very small fish, were collected.
These may either have invaded the area from elsewhere, or hatched from
aestivating eggs. The small size of the fish caught is consistent with their
having hatched recently from aestivating eggs."

Andrew