Low flow – any fish?
There were also good numbers of other native fish including River Blackfish, Mountain Galaxias, Southern Pygmy Perch and Flat-headed Gudgeon. Brown Trout made up most of the introduced fish catch – one carp was caught at Richards Bridge and two Eastern Gambusia were also found there – the first time in the 10 years of surveying the King Parrot Creek. The by-catch also included 1 Platypus and 13 Snake-necked Turtles, all of which were released uninjured.
- Low flow at Draytons Bridge
- Renae and Adrian hard at work
- Flat-headed Gudgeon
- Southern Pygmy Perch
- Snake-necked Turtle
- Lernaea parasite after removal
The surveys this year involved both fyke netting and electro-fishing. Caught fish were measured, weighed and inspected for external parasites and lesions before being released back into the creek. Macquarie Perch also had fin samples taken for genetic analysis and were checked for presence of previously installed tags – this year there were only 6 recaptured fish.
One parasite found on a few fish is Lernaea cyprinacea, commonly called Anchor Worm, although it is actually a copepod crustacean rather than a worm. It burrows into the fish’s flesh using horns on its head to anchor itself. It causes lethargy and may lead to death if embedded in a vital organ. The survey team carefully removed these 1cm long parasites with tweezers.
A worrying aspect highlighted in the report was the lack of connectivity in the stream caused by the construction of illegal rock weirs which represent a barrier to fish passage.