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Shaw Galaxias

Shaw Galaxias

The Shaw Galaxias is one of Australia's rarest freshwater fish — a tiny alpine creek specialist found in a single 4 km reach of Shaw Creek in Victoria's Gippsland highlands.

It is not a target species for anglers; its extreme rarity and protected status mean it exists in the fishing world mainly as a conservation story, a reminder of what introduced trout have cost Australia's native fish fauna.

Scientific Name: Galaxias gunaikurnai

Physical Characteristics:
  • Stout, tubular body; grey-brown to grey-tan on top shading to creamy white underneath, overlaid with dark blotches and bands that often form chevron-like bars along the sides.
  • Translucent fins and gill covers; gill covers carry a distinctive golden patch, and the iris is coppery gold — useful ID features against similar small galaxiids.
  • Typical length 65–70 mm; maximum recorded 104 mm and about 11 g — roughly the size of a large matchbox.

What to know

Habitat Distribution

  • Endemic to Australia; currently restricted to a single population in Shaw Creek, a headwater tributary of the Caledonia River (Macalister River catchment), Gippsland, Victoria.
  • Sits at around 1,470 m elevation inside Alpine National Park — a cool, clear, grassy alpine creek with pools, glides and riffles over bedrock, boulders and cobble.
  • Historically more widespread through the upper Caledonia River system; range has contracted by an estimated 98–99% due to introduced predators and fire impacts.
  • The only native fish species present in its current range — a waterfall above its last refuge keeps brown trout out of the remaining habitat.

Key Locations

  • Shaw Creek, Macalister River catchment, Alpine National Park, Victoria — the only place on Earth this species currently exists.

Specific Spots

  • Pools and glides between riffles provide the calmer water this small, benthic fish uses for feeding and shelter.
  • Rock and boulder substrate gives cover from current and predators; the species holds tight to the stream bottom in very shallow water (typically 15–20 cm deep).
  • Overhanging alpine grasses on the bank provide the limited instream shade available in this open, high-altitude creek.

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