Taxonomic position of two crimson-spotted rainbowfish, Melanotaenia duboulayi and Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Pisces : Melanotaeniidae), from eastern Australia, with special reference to their early life-history stages

Abstract

In recent literature, the crimson-spotted rainbowfish from eastern Australia, M. fluviatilis, is recognized as a single species or subspecies. The present paper includes a study of early life-history stages, which shows that two species are represented: M. duboulayi (Castelnau) from eastern or coastal drainage systems of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, and M. fluviatilis (Castelnau) of the inland Murray-Darling system.