Yalmy Galaxias On The Verge Of Disappearing Forever, Experts Claim

(Photo : Getty Images/JOSEPH PREZIOSO)

A coalition of environmental groups has raised concerns about an Australian fish, the Yalmy galaxias, which is on the verge of extinction.

Verge Of Disappearing Forever

The final survey of Yalmy galaxias in March 2023 discovered only 20 of the fish, whose habitat was destroyed by the Black Summer bushfires and is threatened by introduced pests.

It is categorized as critically endangered, but environmentalists and scientists say no further surveys have been conducted, and officials have not developed a recovery strategy to try to conserve it.

It has caused six organizations to write to Tanya Plibersek, the federal environment minister, and her colleagues in Victoria and New South Wales, pleading for action.

According to Jack Gough, the Invasive Species Council's campaign director, the Yalmy galaxies are "on the verge of disappearing for ever," and the Australian government is on the edge of failing to fulfill its goal of zero new extinctions.

The Yalmy galaxias has a tubular, scaleless body with a lateral line that rarely grows longer than 7 centimeters. It has a distinct swimming technique, frequently laying on the river's bottom before darting quickly forward.

Gough said the species was probably formerly common in the Snowy River system but had been decimated by droughts, bushfires that carried debris into rivers, and predation by trout introduced by recreational fishermen. Seven were rescued for an attempted captive breeding program following the black summer bushfires, but six died.

"The yalmy may have survived in its last refuge due to water being warmer than trout prefer, but there is no barrier to trout moving there in cooler periods, or in floods, or being introduced by a fisher. The extinction of the Yalmy galaxias is almost guaranteed without urgent intervention," he said.

Captive Breeding

The groups urged the Australian and Victorian governments to launch an immediate rescue operation for the Yalmy galaxias, including a search for survivors and a new attempt at captive breeding.

The yalmy is one of 15 galaxiid fish species in New South Wales and Victoria that are thought to be at high risk of extinction by 2040.

The six organizations, which include the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Biodiversity Council, and three state-specific conservation groups, urged governments to find or create trout-free havens, conduct captive breeding for galaxiid species, and develop a national invasive fish action plan.

According to James Trezise, director of the Biodiversity Council, the condition of the Yalmy galaxias demonstrates the inability of national environmental regulations to prevent severe threats to highly endangered species.

The Albanese government announced last week that it would soon introduce legislation to establish a national environmental protection agency, to be known as Environment Protection Australia, but postponed a promised rewrite of the laws, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, until an unspecified date.

"We urgently need reforms to our national conservation planning system and a dramatic increase in investment to better tackle major threats and recover threatened species populations," Trezise said.