Cairnsichthys bitaeniatus Allen, Hammer & Raadik, 2018

Open encyclopedia reference

The Daintree rainbowfish (Cairnsichthys bitaeniatus) is a species of rainbowfish endemic to Australia. This species is endemic to the wet tropics of north eastern Queensland where it has been recorded from the Cooper Creek and nearby Hutchinson Creek systems of the Daintree region of north-eastern Queensland. It was discovered as an isolated population in the Daintree rainforest and was originally thought to be the Cairns rainbowfish (C. rhombosomoides) but it was defined as its own species in 2018. This species occurs in small clear, shady rainforest streams which flow over a substrate consisting of rock, sand, gravel and log debris. Within these streams the fishes swim near the surface to midwater depths and are frequently found in the deeper pools of these streams where there is a faster current. They will form mixed schools with blue-eyes and other rainbowfishes. As of 2019, it has been listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.

Wikipedia contributors, Daintree rainbowfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:13:29.168560+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Cairnsichthys bitaeniatus Allen, Hammer & Raadik, 2018

Name authority

Allen, Hammer & Raadik, 2018

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Atheriniformes

Family

Melanotaeniidae

Genus

Cairnsichthys

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. genusCairnsichthys Allen, 1980
14. speciesCairnsichthys bitaeniatus Allen, Hammer & Raadik, 2018

Close classified relatives

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

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. Hammer, M. P., Allen, G. R., Martin, K. C., Adams, M., Ebner, B. C., Raadik, T. A., & Unmack, P. J. (2018). Revision of the Australian Wet Tropics endemic rainbowfish genus Cairnsichthys (Atheriniformes: Melanotaeniidae), with description of a new species. Zootaxa, 4413. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4413.2.3 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:D554N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.