Melanotaenia australis (Castelnau, 1875)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Melanotaenia australis, the western rainbowfish, is a species of freshwater rainbowfish endemic to Australia's Kimberley and Pilbara, Top End. The western rainbowfish (Melanotaenia, australis) is one of the most common and highly abundant freshwater fish endemic to north-western Australia; It ranges from the Ashburton River in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to the Adelaide river in the Northern Territory. It shows extensive geographic variation in their color pattern.
Predation is associated with the variation in color pattern in rainbow fish ( Melanotaenia australis). Meanwhile, variation in reflectance and body shape was associated with variation in environmental conditions.
Wikipedia contributors, Melanotaenia australis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:10:30.466426+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Melanotaenia australis (Castelnau, 1875)
- Name authority
- (Castelnau, 1875)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Atheriniformes
- Family
- Melanotaeniidae
- Genus
- Melanotaenia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAtheriniformes
- suborderAtherinoidei
- familyMelanotaeniidae Gill, 1894
- genusMelanotaenia Gill, 1862
- speciesMelanotaenia australis (Castelnau, 1875)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Melanotaenia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Melanotaenia affinis (Weber, 1907) | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia ammeri Allen, Unmack & Hadiaty, 2008 | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia arguni Kadarusman, Hadiaty & Pouyaud, 2012 | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia boesemani Allen & Cross, 1980 | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia catherinae (de Beaufort, 1910) | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia corona Allen, 1982 | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia duboulayi (Castelnau, 1878) | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lake Eacham rainbowfishMelanotaenia eachamensis Allen & Cross, 1982 | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia exquisita Allen, 1978 | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Castelnau, 1878) | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia fredericki (Fowler, 1939) | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Melanotaenia goldiei (Macleay, 1883) | MelanotaeniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Neoatherina australis Castelnau, 1875 Castelnau, 1875 | synonym |
| Melanotaenia splendida australis (Castelnau, 1875) (Castelnau, 1875) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1049461 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3ZBLD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.