Saddled Galaxias

Interesting Info

• The Saddled Galaxias is endemic to Tasmania, found only in a handful of lakes and connected creeks in the Central Plateau. It is mostly confined to Great Lake and nearby tributaries, after disappearing from many of its historical habitats.
• It gets its name from the dark saddle-like bands that cross its back, contrasting with a lighter golden-brown body. These markings help it blend in among pebbles and shaded stream bottoms.
• Adults feed on insects, insect larvae, small crustaceans, and worms, often taken from the surface or just above the bottom.
• Like other galaxias, they are weak swimmers, preferring calmer waters along rocky and weedy margins. They cannot compete with stronger swimmers like introduced trout.
• Breeding takes place in late summer to autumn (March–April), when females lay adhesive eggs among gravel, rocks, and aquatic vegetation in shallow margins.
• Newly hatched larvae drift into deeper water or sheltered edges, where they feed on plankton and small insects before moving back into rocky shallows as juveniles..
• They are extremely vulnerable to predation from brown trout and rainbow trout, which have caused massive declines in their numbers and range.
• Because of trout pressure, many Saddled Galaxias now survive only in trout-free refuge areas that have been carefully protected.
• The lifespan is short, around 2–3 years, with most fish breeding once or twice before dying.