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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Lake Eacham rainbowfish

Melanotaenia eachamensis Allen & Cross, 1982

Source-backed taxonomic record

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.

A Lake Eacham Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia eachamensis, photographed in an aquarium.

A Lake Eacham Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia eachamensis, photographed in an aquarium.

Martin F. Gomon · CC BY 4.0 · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Lake Eacham rainbowfish (Melanotaenia eachamensis) is a species of rainbowfish in the subfamily Melanotaeniidae. It was once believed to be endemic to Yidyam (Lake Eacham), Queensland, Australia, but has since been proven to have a wider range.

Wikipedia contributors, Lake Eacham rainbowfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:40:15.686333+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Melanotaenia eachamensis Allen & Cross, 1982
Name authority
Allen & Cross, 1982
Common name
Lake Eacham rainbowfish
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderAtheriniformes
  11. suborderAtherinoidei
  12. familyMelanotaeniidae Gill, 1894
  13. genusMelanotaenia Gill, 1862
  14. speciesMelanotaenia eachamensis Allen & Cross, 1982

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Melanotaenia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Melanotaenia affinis (Weber, 1907)MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia ammeri Allen, Unmack & Hadiaty, 2008MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia arguni Kadarusman, Hadiaty & Pouyaud, 2012MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia australis (Castelnau, 1875)MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia boesemani Allen & Cross, 1980MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia catherinae (de Beaufort, 1910)MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia corona Allen, 1982MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia duboulayi (Castelnau, 1878)MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia exquisita Allen, 1978MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia fluviatilis (Castelnau, 1878)MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia fredericki (Fowler, 1939)MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Melanotaenia goldiei (Macleay, 1883)MelanotaeniidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 89 records assigned to Melanotaeniidae.

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.

  1. Allen, G. R., & Cross, N. J. (1982). Rainbowfishes of Australia and Papua New Guinea. T. F. H. Publ. Inc., New Jersey, 1–141. 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.

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:3ZBLL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.