Full Title
Suitability of the Mourquong Wetlands as a translocation site for Murray Hardyhead
Contact Person
Iain Ellis
Project Team
Lauren Carr (Summer Scholarship student), Iain Ellis and Leigh Pyke
Funding Body
Sunsalt through the Murray Darling Environment Foundation
Duration
November 2009 to February 2010
Outcomes
Report documenting the results of wetland surveys and trialled captive population of Murray hardyhead. A copy of report to will be forwarded to Sunsalt, and a presentation summarising the results of the project will be conducted at the MDFRC in Mildura at the completion of the project
Summary
The Murray hardyhead (Craterocephalus fluviatilis) is listed as threatened under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and as vulnerable under the Commonwealth EPBC Act (1999). The species is critically endangered in Victoria (DSE 2003) and described as threatened, with a restricted distribution in the Murray-Darling Basin Commission's Native Fish Strategy 2003-2013. As such, there is a statutory requirement to manage the existing habitat of this species.
Habitat of the species (off channel wetlands with elevated salinity) have diminished as a consequence of river regulation and ongoing drought. Remaining populations survive in wetlands which have been used for irrigation drainage disposal, and these too are experiencing declining volumes as a result of more efficient drainage practices and/or altered land use.
Within the Mallee region there is only one known surviving Murray hardyhead population, which exists in a section of the Cardross Lakes near Mildura. Two lakes near Kerang also support small populations, and a further three known wetlands in SA contain the fish species, although all are under considerable threat of extinction. In the case of Cardross Lakes, management intervention has been necessary since 1996 (through the provision of environmental water from the State's Murray River Environmental Water Allocation (EWA). There exists a risk that current management practices could contribute to further decline of existing Murray hardyhead populations. This is particularly topical, given the recent extinction of the species from Lake Hawthorn near Mildura in 2008. In Victoria, DSE are currently sourcing suitable sites for translocation of Murray hardyhead currently housed in captive maintenance at the MDFRC facilities.
Project Aims
1. Conduct a series of surveys documenting the water quality, zooplankton, macro-invertebrate, submerged and emergent vegetation throughout the Morquong Wetland system. In particular, document areas which may contain suitable habitat and WQ conditions for Murray hardyhead, given the known habitat range for the species.
2. Establish a holding tank at the MDFRC with water sourced from Morquong, in which some Murray hardyhead acclimatized slowly to the WQ conditions experienced at Morquong, will be maintained for at least 2 months. Weekly water change will be conducted using water taken from the Morquong site.
3. Complete a report documenting the results of the wetland surveys and the trialled captive population. A copy of the report will be forwarded to Sunsalt, and a presentation summarising the results of the project will also be conducted at the MDFRC at the completion of the summer program.
The successful candidate will also assist in the maintenance of the captive Murray hardyhead populations housed at the MDFRC and assist with field and laboratory based duties of other ongoing projects at the laboratory (under the guidance of Brendan Curtin and Michelle Kavanagh).
Project supervisor: Iain Ellis
