Big trouble for little fish: identifying Australian freshwater fishes in imminent risk of extinction
Mark Lintermans
A B O , Hayley M. Geyle C , Stephen Beatty D , Culum Brown E , Brendan C. Ebner B F , Rob Freeman B G , Michael P. Hammer B H , William F. Humphreys I , Mark J. Kennard J , Pippa Kern K , Keith Martin L , David L. Morgan B D , Tarmo A. Raadik B M , Peter J. Unmack A , Rob Wager N , John C. Z. Woinarski C and Stephen T. Garnett C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Centre for Applied Water Science, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
B Australian Society for Fish Biology, Threatened Fishes Committee, c/- ASN Events, Suite 9/397 Smith Street, Fitzroy, Vic. 3065, Australia.
C Threatened Species Recovery Hub, National Environmental Science Program, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909, Australia.
D Freshwater Fish Group & Fish Health Unit, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, WA 6150, Australia.
E Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia.
F TropWATER, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.
G Inland Fisheries Service, New Norfolk, Tas. 7140, Australia.
H Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia.
I School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
J Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub, National Environmental Science Program, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Qld 4111, Australia.
K Bush Heritage Australia, Level 1, 395 Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.
L PO Box 520, Clifton Beach, Qld 4879, Australia.
M Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Heidelberg, Vic. 3084, Australia.
N ’Rockatoo’, 281 Falls Road, Esk, Qld 4312, Australia.
O Corresponding author. Email: mark.lintermans@canberra.edu.au
Pacific Conservation Biology 26(4) 365-377 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC19053
Submitted: 16 December 2019 Accepted: 7 June 2020 Published: 14 July 2020
Abstract
Globally, freshwater fishes are declining at an alarming rate. Despite much evidence of catastrophic declines, few Australian species are listed as threatened under national legislation. We aim to help redress this by identifying the Australian freshwater fishes that are in the most immediate risk of extinction. For 22 freshwater fishes (identified as highly threatened by experts), we used structured expert elicitation to estimate the probability of extinction in the next ~20 years, and to identify key threats and priority management needs. All but one of the 22 species are small (<150 mm total length), 12 have been formally described only in the last decade, with seven awaiting description. Over 90% of these species were assessed to have a >50% probability of extinction in the next ~20 years. Collectively, the biggest factor contributing to the likelihood of extinction of the freshwater fishes considered is that they occur in small (distributions ≤44 km2), geographically isolated populations, and are threatened by a mix of processes (particularly alien fishes and climate change). Nineteen of these species are unlisted on national legislation, so legislative drivers for recovery actions are largely absent. Research has provided strong direction on how to manage ~35% of known threats to the species considered, and, of these, ~36% of threats have some management underway (although virtually none are at the stage where intervention is no longer required). Increased resourcing, management intervention and social attitudinal change is urgently needed to avert the impending extinction of Australia’s most imperilled freshwater fishes.
Additional keywords: alien species, anthropogenic mass extinction crisis, biodiversity conservation, climate change, Delphi, IDEA, introduced species, threatening processes.
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