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Ballarat has or used to have 22 threatened animals within its boundaries. One of them is me, the Eastern Dwarf Galaxias.

We took care to attach appropriate images that are as close to representative of each species as our resources and the availability of images allowed. However, we could not ensure perfect accuracy in every case. Some images show species that share the same genus but not at the species or subspecies level.

Eastern Dwarf Galaxias

Galaxiella pusilla

Status: Vulnerable

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) lists threatened species under six categories:
Extinct, Extinct in the wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Conservation dependent. Read more about these categories

Galaxiella pusilla is found across 36 electorates.

The Eastern Dwarf Galaxias is a tiny, slender, freshwater fish that averages 30-40 mm in length. Like other Galaxiidae, it has all soft-rayed fins, a body lacking scales, and a single dorsal fin positioned well back on the body. The body depth is greatest mid-abdomen, tapering to both head and tail, while the lateral line follows the dorsal profile. The head is short and blunt with large eyes, while the mouth is small, terminal and oblique, with jaws roughly equal in length. The dorsal and anal fins are opposite, shortbased and rounded. The caudal fin is long and rounded, with fleshy flanges extending forward almost to the bases of the dorsal and anal fins. A fleshy abdominal keel extends from the pelvic fin base posteriorly to the vent. Body colour is olive–amber on the dorsal surface and sides, with a silvery-white belly, while the fins are transparent.¹

Explore more about this species on the Atlas of Living Australia

Changed surface and groundwater regimes