Ornate Sunfish (R.Ornatus) Castaways Creek
Photo Leo O’Reilly/ANGFA

The Ornate Sunfish, Rhadinocentrus ornatus is truly a unique and beautiful native freshwater fish found only in a few locations in the Greater Brisbane/Redlands, and has a patchy distribution through coastal creeks of Queensland and New South Wales.

Wildlife Queensland is conducting a collaborative project to find these beautiful fish. Wildlife Queensland and volunteers from across Brisbane and Redlands are generously supported by the Brisbane City Council and Redland City Council with valuable technical support from the Australia New Guinea Fishes Association and the consultancy firm frc Environmental.
 The purpose of this project is to:

1. Identify the location of populations of this species and potential suitable habitat, and
2. Raise the public awareness about the species and the threats upon the same.

The Ornate Sunfish can grow to a maximum size of around 7-8 cm total length, but is usually more common at around 5~6 cm.

The distribution of the Ornate Sunfish has contracted as a consequence of urban and rural development and exacerbated by altered hydrology and water quality. Habitat alteration and urban development are still having negative impacts in several areas. Extensive sampling in rivers and streams of the south-east Queensland mainland over the last few years has yielded relatively few individuals.

Searching for elusive Sunfish
Photo © Wildlife Queensland

In Australia four distinct populations have been identified to date. These populations diverged between two and seven million years ago and so represent long-term divisions and should be considered separate for conservation purposes¹. It seems every creek system has its own unique population, they certainly vary in colour and potentially they could be genetically quite distinct.

The sad tale is that every time we lose a population of Ornate Sunfish from a creek system we are effectively losing a very unique group of fish for ever.

The project is being coordinated by Wildlife Queensland Bayside Branch and will continue until mid 2011 and the hope is that we will develop a good understanding about the distribution of the Ornate Sunfish in the Brisbane and Redlands region. 

With improved knowledge about the distribution of the fish and their preferred habitat we will be able to provide useful information to landholders who would like to take action to save this species from extinction.

¹ Page, T.J., Sharma, S. and Hughes, J.M. (2004). Deep phylogenetic structure has conservation implications for ornate rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae: Rhadinocentrus ornatus) in Queensland, eastern Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 55, 165–172.

For more information on Wildlife Queensland's activities, call us on +61 7 3221 0194 or send us an email.