Australian Grayling

Habitat Distribution

• Native to coastal rivers and streams draining east and south of the Great Dividing Range, from near Sydney in NSW around to the Hopkins River in south-west Victoria, plus Tasmania and King Island.
• Adults live in cool, clear freshwater rivers; larvae are swept downstream to the sea after hatching, and juveniles spend roughly six months in coastal marine waters before migrating back upstream.
• In Victoria, records are strongest in the Tambo, Barwon, Mitchell and Tarwin river systems; in Tasmania, found in northern, eastern and western rivers but not the south-west.
• Now considered extinct in South Australia, where it was once recorded in isolated locations.

Key Locations

• Tambo, Mitchell and Tarwin Rivers, Victoria — among the most consistently productive Victorian catchments for the species.
• Barwon and Erskine Rivers, south-west Victoria — important strongholds in the western part of the Victorian range.
• Coastal rivers of northern, eastern and western Tasmania — the Tasmanian population is considered significant given range contraction on the mainland.
• Coastal streams south of Sydney, NSW — the northern edge of the species' range, where records exist but populations are less dense.

Specific Spots

• Mid to lower freshwater reaches of coastal rivers — adults congregate here, and it's where spawning migrations concentrate fish in autumn and early winter.
• Runs and riffles over gravel and cobble substrate, where the fish feed actively and where spawning likely occurs.
• Current breaks behind boulders or woody debris in clear, well-oxygenated water — grayling hold in the softer water adjacent to flow rather than in the full current.