Tag Archives: Fish

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Tiny Ornate Rainbows Under Threat

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R.ornatus (Evan Heads) GS
Rornatus (Evans Head), Wildlife Queensland picture.

The ornate rainbow fish (Rhadinocentrus ornatus) is a small and beautifully coloured freshwater fish. You don’t often spot them straight away in dark creek ways because their colours show when the light catches their scales. Few populations of these fish are scattered in freshwater creeks in parts of Brisbane where I live, and some creek systems in Queensland’s Redlands, Moreton Bay and Byfield regions.

ornatesunfish
Ornate rainbowfish (R.ornatus) Castaways Creek Photo Leo O’Reilly/ANGFA

The ornate rainbow fish, also known as soft-spine sun-fish can also be found in Nambucca, New South Wales. Four distinct populations have been found in the areas between Queensland and New South Wales.

The numbers of the ornate rainbow fish have decreased rapidly due to human impact. Urban and rural development have caused experts to fear that certain species of the fish have already been lost forever. Every creek in the parts of Australia where the fish is found, has its own unique population which varies in colour and scientists believe they could also be genetically exclusive. The ornate rainbow fish on average grows five to six centimetres long. They can grow up to 8cm long.

“The sad tale is that every time we lose a population of ornate rainbow fish from a creek system we are effectively losing a very unique group of fish forever”, Wildlife Queensland.

ornatesunfish3
Female ornate rainbowfish (R.ornatus) Redlands Photo © Simon Baltais/WPSQ

Wildlife Queensland has issued a fact-sheet for voluntary information on spotting of the ornate rainbow fish. They hope this data collection would determine where the fish are still found and how many types are left. The information would also assist Wildlife Queensland to educate the public and minimise threats to the fish life.

ornaterainbowfish
Male ornate rainbowfish (R.Ornatus) Stradbroke Is – Aranerawal Creek Photo ©Leo O’Reilly

To assist in voluntary spotting and documentation, and more information on the ornate rainbow fish, visit:  Wildlife Queensland

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More Mystery Surrounds The Fishy Find

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“The Fishy Find” follow-up story.

Burnt Fishing Boat Liau Yuan Yu 68
Burnt Fishing Boat Liao Yuan Yu 68, believed to have been set on fire after it ran aground just off Manus Islands, Papua New Guinea. Pic: Courtesy ABC.

I posted a story on December 30, about three bodies being found by villagers in a suspected illegal fishing boat off the coast in Manus, Papua New Guinea.

PNG authorities were unable to find the bodies reported in abandoned tuna fishing boat freezer. Here is the follow-up story from ABC PNG correspondent Liam Cochrane.

Liao Yuan Yu 68, the abandoned fishing boat Liao is believed to have been set on fire by the crew after it ran aground.

Three human bodies reportedly left in the freezer of an abandoned fishing vessel in Papua New Guinea may have been removed and replaced with three metre-long tuna, according to a journalist who accompanied police to the site.

Fishing Boat at Poana Island, Manus
Fishing boat aground on Poana Island, Manus. Courtesy. ABC

The fishing vessel was abandoned on a remote island in the far east of PNG’s waters in early December and locals reported seeing three corpses “of Asian appearance” inside a freezer.
But when police and government officials travelled to the site this week, they found three huge tuna on trays in the freezer, which had been damaged by fire.

PNG investigation team on the boat.
PNN investigation team members on the burnt fishing boat. Pic: Courtesy ABC

“The fish that were there looked like [they] had just recently been burned – you could still see blood on the fish,” said Stephanie Elizah, a senior journalist working with the Autonomous Government of Bougainville’s media bureau, who was part of the assessment trip.

“The information doesn’t add up,” she said.
“The young kid that went into the freezer area [initially], he noticed an ankle, it was decayed but it was still in the shape of a foot and was wrapped in black wrapper.
“You’re talking about a community that [has been] eating fish all their lives and they know the difference between a fish and a human body.”
It is unclear if the initial reports of human bodies were incorrect or if the corpses had been removed and replaced with the tuna.
“No one has come up and said whether they burnt the ship or they may have retrieved the corpses and buried [them] somewhere,” Elizah said.

Courtesy: Malum Nalu Blog and ABC News.