Australian grayling
A relatively small Australian trout pike Ling
The Australian trout pike Ling ( Prototroctes maraena ) is described in 1864 by Albert Günther Knochenfischart from the kind of trout pike Linge ( Prototroctes ) within the family of New Zealand salmon ( Retropinnidae ).
Features
The Australian trout pike Ling can reach a standard length of more than 30 cm, exceeds today but rarely 25 cm. He is dark brown to olive green on the back, on the sides greenish- bronze, sometimes with a steel-blue shimmer. The gill covers are silver, the belly and the underside of the head silberweißlich to yellowish. The fins are transparent to grayish or straw colored. The dorsal fin is located on the ventral fins, a dorsal fin is present. The maxilla is toothless, the lower jaw is surrounded by a horny edge. The number of vertebrae is 62 to 72
Fresh smells of the Australian trout pike Ling after cucumber. Most of the animals are from two to three, some up to five years old.
Dissemination
Occurrence of the Australian trout pike Lings are in the southeast of Australia, from the Grose River to the east of the state of New South Wales to the Hopkins River ( State of Victoria ), is known. It is also found in Tasmania and on King Iceland at the western end of Bass Strait.
Habitat and behavior
The Australian trout pike Ling is a amphidrome kind, who inhabited the headwaters of clear, moderate to fast flowing rivers. Sometimes it is found at altitudes above 1000 m. It spawns in coastal rivers, the spawning season in the Australian autumn varies depending on flow and environmental influences. A female can lay approximately 47,000 eggs. The demersal ( sinking to the ground ), non-adherent eggs have a diameter of 0.9 mm. The fish larvae are washed by the rivers into the sea, where to stay, the young Australian trout pike pieces of the first 6 months of her life, after which they return to the rivers, where they spend the rest of their lives. The Australian trout pike Ling feeds on algae and aquatic insects. With the comb-like jaw teeth insects can be picked up by filamentous algae, the black peritoneum could be caused by vegetable content in the diet.
Endangering
In the 1880s, it was reported by a mass extinction of the Australian trout pike compacts that., With the introduction of trout in Tasmania coincided Saville -Kent in 1888 indicated that a deadly disease was introduced with the trout, and reported that dead and dying animals were seen:
" Thousands down the rivers impulsive, covered ... with a cotton-like fungus "
Today the Australian trout pike pieces are threatened in many ways. Firstly, by dams and weirs that impede the migrations to the sea and back, of which the type is dependent. Deforestation lead to siltation and degradation of water quality. Introduced species of trout threaten the species by displacement.
The Australian trout pike Ling is being threatened by Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 species with a status of "endangered" ( vulnerable ) listed. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) classified the species as it is dependent on protection measures threat as low, early warning ( Near Threatened, NT ) a.