Red-finned blue-eye

The red-finned blue-eye (Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis) is a tiny, critically endangered species of fish in the Pseudomugilidae family and the only species in its genus.[2] The species was first recorded in 1990. It is endemic to Central Queensland in Australia, where restricted to springs in Bush Heritage's Edgbaston Reserve. Here they live in shallow, slightly salty water that can vary from near freezing in the winter to 40 °C (104 °F) in the summer.[3] It reaches up to 2.5 cm (1 in) in length and only males have red fins.[3]

Red-finned blue-eye
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Atheriniformes
Family: Melanotaeniidae
Subfamily: Pseudomugilinae
Genus: Scaturiginichthys
Ivantsoff, Unmack, Saeed & Crowley, 1991
Species:
S. vermeilipinnis
Binomial name
Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis
Ivantsoff, Unmack, Saeed & Crowley, 1991

Conservation status

It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and as Endangered under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992. In September 2012, the species was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature list of 100 most endangered species on the planet.[4] It was originally found in seven springs in its small range in the Edgbaston Reserve, but only survives in three of these.[3] Another three translocated populations exists in the reserve.[3]

They are at risk from extinction due to competition and predation by the flourishing introduced eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), water extraction and habitat loss.[1] An intensive conservation programme has been developed to save the species.[3] The Edgbaston goby (Chlamydogobius squamigenus), 11 snail species, a small crustacean, a flatworm, a spider and a dragonfly are restricted to springs in the same reserve and also threatened.[5]

References
  1. Wager, R. (1996). "Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T19951A9114363. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T19951A9114363.en.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis" in FishBase. June 2012 version.
  3. Bridie Smith, Hope springs eternal for besieged blue-eye,' at Sydney Morning Herald, June 9, 2012.
  4. "Queensland fish on world's most endangered list". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  5. Bush Heritage (27 May 2016). Edgbaston. Retrieved 18 February 2017.


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