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McDowall's Galaxias (Galaxias mcdowalli)

McDowall's galaxias is a small, non-migratory freshwater fish endemic to the headwaters of the Rodger River in East Gippsland, Victoria. It occupies cool, clear, shallow, shaded streams and is critically endangered because its known range is very small, its population is isolated, and introduced trout, fire and habitat change threaten its persistence on or downstream of development sites.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Critically endangered.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Critically endangered.

Breeding season

The annual cycle is not fully documented for this species. The seasonal guide below uses the reported winter or spring spawning period and the non-migratory status, with precautionary timing for project planning.

Month values run from January to December. A value of 0 means not typical or not documented, 1 means the activity may occur, and 2 means the main precautionary period.

  • Breeding, spawning and egg laying: Spawning is undocumented but thought to occur during winter or spring. Related mountain galaxias attach adhesive eggs to rocks in riffles.
  • Young and early development: Species-specific hatching and juvenile timing are unknown. Related mountain galaxias eggs hatch after 20 to 30 days, so riffles and shallow cover should be protected after spawning.
  • Post-fire and high-flow exposure: Risk is event driven rather than seasonal. Heavy rainfall after the 2019 to 2020 fires threatened the species through stream impacts, so monitor sediment and water quality after intense rainfall at any time of year.
  • Highest clearing risk: Winter and spring are the highest precautionary risk period because spawning is thought to occur then and eggs or early life stages may be attached to riffle substrates. In-stream disturbance, dewatering, sediment release and removal of riparian cover should be avoided in this period where practicable.

Identification

Identification should be confirmed by an experienced freshwater fish ecologist because McDowall's galaxias forms part of a group of similar small native galaxiids. Handle captured fish with clean, wet equipment and return them promptly to the capture location under the relevant permit and animal welfare procedures.

McDowall's galaxias has an elongate, tubular, scaleless body with a lateral line. The back and upper sides are olive-brown, the underside is light brown to cream with an almost white belly, and the body carries irregular dark brown to black blotches and flecks. A broad mid-lateral band of gold flecks, golden eyes and a large golden patch on the translucent gill cover are useful field features.

Typical length: 65 to 75 mm to caudal fin

Maximum recorded size: 84 mm to caudal fin and 6 g

Fins: Soft-rayed, translucent and grey to light brown or olive-grey

Identification: Distinguishing features

Within the mountain galaxias group, the species is distinguished by the combination of an extra pelvic fin ray, a relatively short-rayed anal fin, and an anal fin similar in height and base length to the dorsal fin. Its side pattern also helps separate it from related galaxiids.

  • Do not identify a small galaxiid from colour alone, because colour and flecking can vary with age and conditions.
  • Record the capture location, stream reach, photographs and diagnostic fin features before release or transfer.

Identification: Field signs

No reliable species-specific tracks, scats, calls, nests, burrows or other terrestrial field signs are reported. Detection is by direct observation, netting or other approved freshwater fish survey methods in the stream. The species may burrow into substrate when surface water declines, but this behaviour is reported generally for galaxias and is not a confirmed survey sign for McDowall's galaxias.

  • Treat any small native galaxiid in suitable headwater habitat as potentially significant until identification is confirmed.
  • Inspect shallow pools, riffles and areas with submerged logs, branches or overhanging vegetation without disturbing the bed unnecessarily.

Distribution: National range

McDowall's galaxias is endemic to Victoria and is known from a highly restricted headwater distribution in East Gippsland. No confirmed population outside the Rodger River headwaters is described in the supplied documents.

The species is known only from the headwaters of the Rodger River in Snowy River National Park, in the Snowy River Basin and East Gippsland River Region of Victoria. The known sites are near Waratah Flat Track, approximately 10 km from the source, and upstream of Deddick Track, approximately 25 km from the source and above a waterfall.

States recorded: Victoria only

Bioregional setting: East Gippsland, Snowy River Basin and East Gippsland River Region

Known river extent: Approximately 25 km from the Rodger River source, upstream of the Deddick Track waterfall

  • The known elevation range is approximately 680 to 1140 m above sea level.
  • The species has not been recorded elsewhere in the Rodger River catchment in the supplied assessment.
  • Surveys of remote headwaters including Mountain Creek, New Country Creek and Accommodation Creek were identified as necessary to test for isolated remnant subpopulations.

Distribution: Subpopulations and trend

The species is known from one subpopulation at two recorded sites. Its historic distribution may have extended into the Snowy River system, the lower Buchan River system and adjacent catchments, but the supplied assessment does not provide a current total population estimate.

Known subpopulations: One

Recorded sites: Two

Projected post-fire decline: More than 50 percent within three generations

Population estimate: Not provided in the supplied documents

  • The entire known distribution was burnt in the 2019 to 2020 bushfires.
  • The assessment projects a decline of more than 50 percent within three generations of the 2019 to 2020 fires.
  • A 100-fish rescue was undertaken in February 2020, followed by temporary captive management and release to the capture site in September 2020; this number is not a population estimate.

Habitat: Stream habitat

The known habitat is a cool, clear, shallow and heavily shaded headwater stream. For project assessment, protect the occupied reach and the connected catchment processes that maintain its flow, water quality, shade and barriers to introduced trout.

McDowall's galaxias has been recorded in the Rodger River in a channel approximately 3 to 5 m wide and about 0.5 m deep. Pools average 1 to 2 m deep. The bed is mainly sand, silt and clay, with areas of cobble and pebble.

Channel width at recorded habitat: 3 to 5 m

Recorded water depth: About 0.5 m

Average pool depth: 1 to 2 m

Substrate: Mainly sand, silt and clay, with cobble and pebble areas

  • Retain overhanging vegetation, logs and branches that provide instream cover.
  • Avoid activities that increase sediment entry, alter the channel or reduce baseflow in occupied and adjoining headwater reaches.
  • Maintain the local catchment for the surface water and groundwater that sustain the stream.

Habitat: Elevation and connectivity

Known habitat occurs from approximately 680 to 1140 m above sea level in the Rodger River headwaters. The species is non-migratory, but the persistence of the subpopulation depends on maintaining suitable headwater habitat and preventing introduced salmonids from moving upstream.

  • Keep barriers that exclude brown trout and rainbow trout effective, and do not create bypasses around natural or constructed barriers without fish conservation advice.
  • Assess upstream and downstream hydrological connections before works in the catchment.
  • Include similar trout-free reaches that could support natural range extension or managed translocation in habitat planning.

Foraging habitat: Diet and feeding areas

The diet of McDowall's galaxias has not been directly reported. Evidence from other members of the mountain galaxias complex indicates feeding on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates associated with the stream bed, drift and adjacent vegetation.

The species is likely to be macroinsectivorous. Related mountain galaxias consume benthic, drifting aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, including insects, crustaceans, molluscs, worms and spiders.

Known diet: Not reported directly

Likely diet: Benthic, drifting aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates

Reported prey types from related mountain galaxias: Insects, crustaceans, molluscs, worms and spiders

  • Retain riffles, pools, cobble and pebble patches, submerged woody material and overhanging vegetation that support invertebrate prey.
  • Prevent sediment inputs and water quality changes that could smother benthic habitat or reduce aquatic invertebrate availability.
  • Keep riparian shade and streamside vegetation where it contributes terrestrial prey and cover.

Foraging habitat: Foraging range

A species-specific foraging range has not been reported. Because McDowall's galaxias is a non-migratory resident of a short headwater reach, works should treat the full occupied stream section, adjacent riparian zone and connected catchment processes as relevant to feeding habitat.

  • Do not infer that unoccupied-looking shallow water is unused habitat without survey evidence.
  • Avoid isolating pools or altering low-flow conditions during construction or clearing near occupied reaches.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

The reproductive biology of McDowall's galaxias is poorly known. Information from related mountain galaxias supports a winter or spring spawning period and adhesive eggs attached to the underside of rocks in riffles, but species-specific clutch, maturation and lifespan data are not available in the supplied documents.

Spawning is undocumented for McDowall's galaxias but is thought to occur during winter or spring. Individuals collected in late February or early March were at an early stage of gonad development. Related mountain galaxias have low fecundity and attach sticky eggs to the underside of rocks in riffles.

Spawning season: Not documented; thought to be winter or spring

Egg attachment: Related mountain galaxias attach sticky eggs to the underside of rocks in riffles

Fecundity: Less than 400 eggs annually in related mountain galaxias

Egg size in related mountain galaxias: Approximately 2 mm diameter

Hatching time in related mountain galaxias: 20 to 30 days

Larval length at hatching in related mountain galaxias: Approximately 9 mm

Age at maturity: Unknown

Lifespan: Unknown

  • Treat riffles, cobble and pebble areas as potential spawning habitat.
  • Avoid bed disturbance, sediment deposition, dewatering and sudden flow changes during winter and spring unless species-specific survey and approval conditions allow the work.
  • Use the breeding information as a precautionary guide, not as a substitute for project-specific advice from the relevant Victorian authority.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Potential breeding habitat includes shallow, cool, clear-flowing riffles with cobble or pebble surfaces, stable water levels and good riparian shade. The broader catchment must continue to supply suitable flow and water quality.

  • Retain stable riffle substrates and prevent fine sediment from covering rock surfaces.
  • Keep logs, branches and overhanging vegetation where they provide cover around breeding and nursery areas.
  • Plan in-stream works outside the suspected winter and spring spawning period where practicable.

Sheltering habitat: Known cover

The species uses instream cover in a shaded headwater stream. Specific refuge dimensions and shelter preferences have not been established, so protection should focus on retaining the range of physical cover features recorded at occupied sites.

Instream cover in the recorded Rodger River habitat is provided mainly by logs, branches and overhanging vegetation. The species may burrow into substrate when surface water declines, although this behaviour is reported for galaxias generally rather than confirmed specifically for McDowall's galaxias.

Recorded shelter: Logs, branches and vegetation overhang

Reported refuge behaviour in galaxias: Burrowing into substrate during surface water loss

Refuge size: Not reported

  • Retain submerged and partly submerged logs, branches, undercut margins and overhanging vegetation.
  • Avoid clearing riparian vegetation or removing woody material from occupied reaches unless authorised and supported by a fish management plan.
  • Prevent dewatering and maintain connected pools during works.

Sheltering habitat: Refuge from introduced trout

The waterfall near Deddick Track is associated with separation from brown trout recorded downstream. Trout-free reaches and barriers that prevent salmonid entry are therefore important refuges, as well as potential sites for conservation translocations.

  • Do not remove, damage or bypass barriers that exclude brown trout or rainbow trout.
  • Check temporary crossings, pipes and access tracks for pathways that could allow fish movement or introduce contaminated water.
  • Treat any proposed works near barriers, headwater channels or trout-free reaches as high risk until reviewed by the relevant fish conservation authority.

Threats: Introduced predators

The dominant threat is predation by introduced salmonids across the known range. The species' single known subpopulation and very restricted distribution also increase its exposure to fire, climate change, hydrological change, sedimentation, disease and local construction impacts.

Brown trout and rainbow trout are the primary identified threat. Salmonid predation has been linked to severe declines and fragmentation of galaxias populations in south-eastern Australia, and brown trout occur downstream of the Deddick Track waterfall.

Threat: Predation by introduced brown trout and rainbow trout

Extent: Potentially across the entire known range

Assessed consequence: Catastrophic

  • Prevent trout access to occupied headwaters and maintain existing exclusion barriers.
  • Do not move water, fish, mud or equipment between catchments without approved hygiene controls.
  • Report any suspected salmonid incursion promptly to the relevant Victorian land or fisheries authority.

Threats: Fire, sediment and hydrology

The entire known distribution was burnt in the 2019 to 2020 bushfires. Heavy rainfall after the fires threatened the species through impacts on stream habitat, and the assessment projects a decline of more than 50 percent within three generations of the fires.

Fire exposure: 100 percent of the known distribution was burnt in the 2019 to 2020 bushfires

Projected decline: More than 50 percent within three generations of the fires

Post-fire risk: Rainfall, sedimentation and water quality changes can cause severe aquatic impacts

  • Avoid exposing occupied streams to sediment, ash, spoil, dirty water or uncontrolled stormwater from roads, pads and earthworks.
  • Keep riparian shade and stabilise disturbed ground before rainfall can mobilise sediment into the channel.
  • Maintain environmental flows, baseflow pathways and pool connectivity during construction and water extraction.
  • Protect unburnt habitat and assess burnt reaches for post-fire sedimentation before works begin.

Threats: Clearing and construction impacts

Clearing of riparian vegetation, removal of instream cover, channel disturbance, altered drainage and barriers to fish movement can reduce habitat quality in the occupied headwaters. Because the known range is confined to one subpopulation, even a local impact may affect a substantial proportion of the species.

  • Confirm whether works occur within the Rodger River headwaters, adjoining suitable habitat or the catchment that supplies occupied reaches.
  • Use a qualified aquatic ecologist and approved fish handling team where fish may be stranded, injured or displaced.
  • Fence exclusion zones around occupied streams and keep machinery, fuels, concrete washout and sediment controls outside the riparian corridor where practicable.
  • Design crossings to retain natural bed levels, low-flow passage and the function of trout exclusion barriers.
  • Schedule in-stream disturbance outside the suspected winter and spring spawning period where practicable.

Threats: Small population and disease

The very restricted distribution and small population increase the risk from genetic decline, inbreeding, chance events and further habitat loss. Preliminary genetic information cited in the assessment indicates substantial loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding. Disease is also identified as a potential additional threat.

Known population structure: One known subpopulation

Genetic concern: Preliminary analysis indicates loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding

Other identified threat: Disease

  • Use strict aquatic hygiene between catchments and between occupied and unoccupied reaches.
  • Do not release or translocate fish without an approved conservation program and disease risk assessment.
  • Record all captures, mortalities, relocations and observations so that changes in the single known subpopulation can be detected.

Threats: Conservation response

Following the 2019 to 2020 fires, 100 fish were salvaged in February 2020, held temporarily and released back to the capture site in September 2020. Victoria's Conservation Hatchery at Snobs Creek now includes McDowall's galaxias among the threatened freshwater species targeted for breeding, restocking and recovery.

Emergency salvage: 100 fish captured in February 2020 and released in September 2020

Conservation facility: Victorian Conservation Hatchery at Snobs Creek includes McDowall's galaxias

  • Coordinate any rescue, captive holding or translocation proposal with Victorian fish conservation specialists.
  • Treat ex situ management as part of a planned conservation response, not as permission to disturb occupied habitat.
  • Maintain site-specific controls even where hatchery or translocation work is underway.

Survey methodology: 1. Define aquatic habitat and survey limits

McDowall's galaxias is a small, non-migratory freshwater fish known from the headwaters of the Rodger River in Snowy River National Park. Surveys must focus on cool, clear, shaded, shallow streams and avoid damaging the occupied channel or its banks.

Map all permanent and seasonal streams, pools, riffles, tributaries, drainage lines and adjoining riparian habitat that could be connected to the Rodger River headwaters before selecting survey points.

Treat cool, clear-flowing, heavily shaded and shallow streams as potential habitat, including reaches with sand, silt, clay, cobble or pebble substrate and cover from logs, branches and overhanging vegetation.

Extend the assessment upstream and downstream far enough to identify barriers, salmonid access and connected habitat, because the species is known from two sites in one subpopulation and is likely restricted to about 25 km of the Rodger River headwaters upstream of the Deddick Track waterfall.

Known elevation range: Approximately 680 to 1,140 m above sea level

Known river extent: Approximately 25 km from the Rodger River source, upstream of the waterfall near Deddick Track

Known collection sites: Near Waratah Flat Track and upstream of Deddick Track

  • Record the stream name, coordinates, elevation, wetted width, water depth, flow, pool and riffle habitat, substrate, instream cover, riparian condition and nearby disturbance at every survey site.

Survey methodology: 2. Electrofishing and netting

Use appropriately licensed and trained freshwater fish survey staff to undertake targeted electrofishing in suitable wadeable reaches, with dip nets or seine nets where safe and appropriate.

Survey pools, shallow margins, riffles, undercut edges and areas around logs, branches and overhanging vegetation, because these features provide instream cover for the species.

Use the least damaging method that can reliably detect a small fish, and follow current Victorian freshwater fish survey, animal ethics and electrical safety requirements.

Do not introduce fish, bait, equipment or water from another catchment, and disinfect equipment between sites to reduce disease and pest transfer.

Typical adult size: Commonly 65 to 75 mm length to caudal fin, with a maximum recorded length of 84 mm length to caudal fin and weight of 6 g

Diet and detection context: Likely to feed on benthic, drifting aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates

  • Record the method, operator, date, start and finish time, reach length or area, number of passes, water conditions, equipment settings, catch numbers, fish lengths and release location.
  • Release captured fish promptly at the point of capture unless an approved salvage or temporary holding operation is under way.

Survey methodology: 3. Visual and refuge searches

Undertake repeated visual searches from the bank and, where safe and authorised, by wading slowly through representative habitat during daylight and suitable low-flow conditions.

Inspect shallow margins, pools, riffles, substrate interstices, woody cover and overhanging vegetation without turning or removing habitat features unless this is part of an approved fish survey method.

Use visual searches to complement, not replace, targeted fish capture methods because the species is small and its microhabitat preferences are not well documented.

  • Search all accessible reaches that may be affected by access tracks, crossings, cofferdams, dewatering, bank works, sediment discharge or changes to shade and flow.
  • Stop a search if water quality, flow, depth, electrical storm conditions or bank stability make it unsafe.

Survey methodology: 4. Fire, flood and works-related salvage checks

Arrange an urgent aquatic fauna assessment after fire, intense rainfall, ash or sediment mobilisation, fish kills, channel drying or other events that could rapidly change stream conditions.

Prioritise unburnt habitat and adjoining unburnt patches, then assess burnt reaches for sedimentation, loss of cover, altered flow and fish mortality.

If dewatering or mass sedimentation could affect occupied habitat, prepare a species-specific salvage and temporary holding plan with the relevant Victorian authority and qualified fish specialists before works begin.

Do not capture, hold, translocate or release McDowall's galaxias unless the work is authorised and the personnel are approved for that activity.

  • Treat any confirmed record as a high-priority biodiversity constraint and notify the project ecologist and relevant wildlife and conservation authority immediately.
  • Use the 2019 to 2020 emergency response as a planning precedent: 100 fish were salvaged in February 2020 and held temporarily at the Arthur Rylah Institute before release to the capture site in September 2020.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Do not describe a site as free of McDowall's galaxias solely because a single visual inspection or a single capture attempt found no fish, because the species has a very restricted known distribution and survey gaps remain in remote Snowy River National Park headwaters.
  • Specify the survey reach, area or length, method, effort, conditions, gear, personnel, detection limits and all negative and positive results in the report.
  • Report a suspected or confirmed record promptly to the Victorian project regulator and submit the verified record, with coordinates and survey metadata, to the relevant Victorian wildlife or biodiversity database.
  • Retain photographs of the fish, habitat and any identification features, and have records verified by a suitably experienced freshwater fish ecologist where identification is uncertain.
  • Include maps showing surveyed and unsurveyed habitat, proposed disturbance, retained habitat, access routes, barriers and any salmonid observations.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Plan the project around the species' highly restricted freshwater habitat. The known subpopulation is in the upper Rodger River, and all populations are considered important for survival and recovery.

Avoid works in the Rodger River headwaters and in connected cool, clear, shaded and shallow stream habitat wherever practicable.

Retain the channel, natural flow paths, pools, riffles, banks, riparian shade, overhanging vegetation, logs, branches and natural substrate.

Avoid new barriers, flow diversion, channel straightening, bank excavation, culvert works and activities that could allow brown trout, rainbow trout or other introduced salmonids to enter occupied or proposed refuge habitat.

Maintain habitat connectivity between retained reaches while preserving waterfalls or other barriers that currently restrict salmonid access.

  • Set out no-go areas before machinery arrives, including the wetted channel, banks, riparian vegetation and any adjoining habitat that could support a refuge or translocation site.
  • Keep sediment, concrete washout, fuels, chemicals and spoil away from water and prevent dirty water from entering the stream.
  • Do not assume that habitat downstream of the Deddick Track waterfall is suitable occupied habitat, because brown trout have been recorded there and the species is known upstream of the waterfall.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project controls

Check whether the action is likely to have a significant impact on this EPBC Act Critically Endangered species and refer the action under the EPBC Act where required.

Obtain all Victorian permits, authorisations and land manager approvals required for fish capture, handling, relocation, waterway works, vegetation removal, access and temporary holding.

Prepare a fauna and aquatic habitat management plan that identifies the known distribution, survey results, exclusion areas, water quality controls, dewatering procedure, salvage decision process, stop-work triggers, contacts and reporting requirements.

National listing: Critically Endangered under the EPBC Act

Victorian listing: Critically Endangered

  • Consult the relevant Victorian conservation and waterway authorities early if works could affect the upper Rodger River, connected tributaries or a potential refuge reach.
  • Include a disease and pest hygiene procedure for all people, vehicles, pumps, nets, electrofishing equipment, boots and containers entering the catchment.

Before habitat disturbance: Timing, staging and site preparation

Schedule in-channel works for the lowest-risk period identified by the aquatic ecologist and relevant authority, taking account of flow, spawning risk, fire recovery and the species' poorly documented winter or spring spawning period.

Stage works so that a connected refuge reach remains available and so that dewatering, sediment release and machinery access are limited in duration and area.

Complete a pre-clearance aquatic survey immediately before works, because fish may move after fire, rainfall, changing flows or disturbance.

Mark exclusion fencing, retained riparian vegetation, stream buffers, refuge pools, access crossings, dewatering limits and clean-water diversion points before clearing begins.

  • Brief the clearing crew, machinery operators, supervisors and fauna spotter catcher on the species' photographs, habitat, stop-work triggers and escalation contacts.
  • Use fencing or other exclusion controls where they can prevent machinery, people, spoil and dirty water from entering retained stream habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery coordination

Treat any work in or near suitable headwater stream habitat as an aquatic fauna risk. The fauna spotter catcher must work under the approved plan and must not improvise capture or relocation.

Inspect exclusion fencing, sediment controls, clean-water diversions, pumps, screens, access crossings and retained habitat before work starts each day and after substantial rainfall.

Keep machinery on approved access routes and out of the wetted channel unless the approved method specifically requires in-channel access.

Use a fauna spotter catcher or aquatic ecologist during clearing, dewatering, bank disturbance, culvert installation and other activities that could strand or injure fish.

Stop or change the work method if water becomes turbid, flow is interrupted, a fish is stranded, a pump intake could entrain fish, or sediment or contaminants enter the stream.

  • Use screened pump intakes, low-flow pumping and staged dewatering where approved, and inspect isolated pools and damp margins for stranded fish before infilling or regrading.
  • Maintain natural downstream flow and prevent sudden release of turbid water, deoxygenated water or contaminated water into retained habitat.
  • Keep a clear line of communication between the spotter catcher, machine operator, site supervisor and aquatic ecologist, with the spotter catcher empowered to call an immediate pause.

During habitat disturbance: Fish handling and unexpected finds

If a suspected McDowall's galaxias is found, stop the activity that threatens it, keep the fish in water, photograph it if this can be done without delay or harm, and contact the authorised aquatic ecologist and project supervisor.

Only appropriately authorised and trained personnel may capture, identify, hold, transport or release the fish.

Release an unharmed fish as soon as practicable into nearby retained habitat at or close to the capture location, unless an approved salvage, temporary holding or translocation plan requires another action.

Do not move the fish to another catchment or outside the historical range as a field response.

  • Use clean, species-appropriate containers and water from the capture site only when temporary holding has been authorised.
  • Minimise handling time, temperature change, crowding, noise and exposure, and record capture and release coordinates, time, condition, length and personnel.
  • Send injured or moribund fish to an approved aquatic wildlife veterinarian or wildlife rehabilitation provider through the relevant authority, rather than releasing an injured animal.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat feature protection and stop-work

Protect logs, branches, overhanging vegetation, cobble, pebble and pool structure because these features form part of the recorded stream habitat and may provide cover.

Do not remove rocks, logs, woody debris, bank cover or riparian vegetation from the channel unless removal is authorised and the aquatic ecologist has assessed the risk.

Stop work for any confirmed or suspected McDowall's galaxias, fish mortality, stranding, salmonid entry, major sediment pulse, chemical spill, loss of downstream flow, failed exclusion control or unexpected occupied habitat.

Treat a fire, flood, ash or sediment event as a new risk assessment trigger, because the species' entire known distribution was burnt in the 2019 to 2020 fires and subsequent rainfall threatened it with extinction.

  • Notify the project manager, fauna ecologist and relevant regulator immediately after a stop-work event.
  • Do not resume until the cause has been controlled, affected habitat has been checked, required approvals have been confirmed and the aquatic ecologist has documented the restart conditions.
  • Record daily weather, rainfall, stream flow, water quality observations, equipment inspections, incidents, captures, mortalities, relocations, photographs and corrective actions.

After habitat disturbance: Close-out checks

Completion of construction does not end the risk. Check for delayed fish impacts, maintain controls through the first high-flow events and verify that the retained stream remains suitable and connected.

Undertake a post-clearance and post-construction aquatic inspection of all disturbed and downstream reaches, including isolated pools, dewatered areas, crossings, discharge points and sediment traps.

Check for stranded or injured fish, fish kills, turbidity, altered flow, bank collapse, loss of shade, blocked passage and new access routes for introduced salmonids.

Remove temporary barriers, pumps, hoses, spoil and waste only when the aquatic ecologist confirms that removal will not release sediment or strand fish.

  • Repair failed sediment, erosion and exclusion controls before demobilising.
  • Confirm that the final work footprint, retained habitat, waterway crossings, rehabilitation areas and any fish handling events are mapped and photographed.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor water quality, flow, bank stability, riparian cover, instream cover and fish presence at a frequency set by the approved management plan and increased after substantial rainfall or fire.

Use the same survey method and reach description before and after works where practical so that changes in detection and habitat condition can be assessed.

Report confirmed records, mortalities, salvage outcomes, incidents, permit compliance, monitoring results and corrective actions to the relevant Victorian authority and the EPBC Act referral decision-maker where applicable.

  • Submit verified species records and negative survey results with full metadata to the relevant Victorian wildlife or biodiversity database.
  • Keep monitoring and incident records with the project environmental file and provide them to future land managers and conservation programs.

After habitat disturbance: Ongoing controls and offsets

Maintain weed, erosion, sediment, chemical, access and salmonid exclusion controls for as long as they are needed to protect the stream and recovering riparian habitat.

Assess any residual impact under the EPBC Act and Victorian approval conditions, and implement approved offsets or compensatory conservation measures where required.

Prioritise measures that protect or improve trout-free, connected headwater habitat and that support the survival of all known and potential subpopulations.

  • Do not use an offset as a substitute for avoiding or minimising direct disturbance to occupied habitat.
  • Review the management plan if monitoring shows reduced flow, increasing sediment, loss of shade, fish mortality or salmonid incursion.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore stream and riparian habitat

Rehabilitation should restore a cool, clear, shaded and structurally diverse headwater stream, while preventing introduced salmonids and post-fire sediment from reaching retained or restored habitat.

Re-establish native riparian vegetation suited to the local East Gippsland headwater community to restore shade, bank stability, leaf litter and overhanging cover.

Reinstate natural channel form, pools, riffles, shallow margins and substrate only under the direction of a qualified aquatic ecologist and waterway authority.

Replace or retain naturally occurring logs, branches, cobble and pebble habitat where these were temporarily removed and where reinstatement will not create a flood or fish-passage hazard.

Prevent weed establishment and control weeds without allowing herbicide, soil or plant debris to enter the stream.

  • Use local provenance plants and protect new plantings from browsing, trampling, machinery and excess flow until established.
  • Do not import soil, rock, water, plants or aquatic material from another catchment unless it has been assessed and approved for biosecurity and habitat compatibility.

Rehabilitation actions: Protect refuge and recovery habitat

Maintain or improve barriers and other controls that prevent brown trout and rainbow trout from entering occupied or proposed refuge reaches, subject to approved fish passage and waterway requirements.

Assess any proposed translocation or new population site separately for salmonid absence, barrier security, habitat condition, disease risk and long-term monitoring before release.

Use ex situ breeding or temporary holding only through an approved conservation program; the Victorian Conservation Hatchery at Snobs Creek lists McDowall's galaxias as a target species and provides controlled breeding and holding facilities.

Conservation hatchery: The Victorian Conservation Hatchery at Snobs Creek opened in May 2024 and lists McDowall's galaxias among its target species

  • Do not release hatchery fish, rescued fish or other aquatic animals from a project site without written approval and a species-specific release plan.
  • Coordinate recovery actions with Victorian authorities, the Arthur Rylah Institute, Traditional Owners and relevant land managers where appropriate.

Rehabilitation actions: Fire, sediment and predator management

Protect unburnt riparian and aquatic habitat within or beside burnt areas, and inspect restored reaches after fire and high-rainfall events for ash, sediment, debris and fish mortality.

Use erosion control, revegetation and catchment runoff management to reduce fine sediment entering pools and riffles after clearing, fire or earthworks.

Manage introduced salmonids where authorised and monitor restored habitat for brown trout, rainbow trout and other fish that could prey on McDowall's galaxias or compete with it.

  • Do not apply broad-scale fire or hazard reduction burning in or beside known habitat without a species-specific assessment and approval.
  • Prepare an emergency salvage and temporary holding protocol before a foreseeable fire, flood, dewatering or sedimentation risk occurs.

Rehabilitation actions: Success measures and handover

Set success measures for riparian survival, shade, bank stability, pool and riffle persistence, water clarity, flow continuity, absence of salmonids and persistence or recolonisation of McDowall's galaxias.

Monitor restored reaches against pre-work baseline information and continue checks through relevant high-flow, dry, fire-recovery and seasonal periods specified by the approved plan.

Treat failure to maintain flow, persistent turbidity, loss of cover, salmonid detection, fish mortality or absence after a suitable follow-up survey as a trigger for corrective action and regulator notification.

  • Provide the land manager with maps, photographs, planting records, water quality results, fish survey data, maintenance requirements and escalation contacts at handover.
  • Submit all verified records, including records from rehabilitation monitoring, to the relevant Victorian wildlife or biodiversity database.

Sources