Recovering threatened fish species along Dandenong Creek

We delivered 19 new habitats for threatened fish species, with more to come.

Dwarf galaxias and Yarra pygmy perch were once abundant in Dandenong Creek. However, due to impacts such as predation by pest fish, and habitat loss from changes in land use and hydrology, they have become highly restricted in numbers or locally extinct. Our Threatened Fish Program seeks to re-establish healthy and sustainable populations of dwarf galaxias and Yarra pygmy perch along the Dandenong Creek corridor.

During Program 1, we successfully constructed and revegetated 19 sites along Dandenong Creek, between Dandenong North and Heathmont. To complement these works, we bred fish at a specially designed nursery habitat. In April 2017, over 600 dwarf galaxias moved into one of their new homes in Rowville. The fish spend most of their time in small wetlands and billabongs on the floodplain, and mostly enter the creek during flood events to find other suitable floodplain habitats.

To ensure the new habitats are providing sufficient protection against pest fish (such as eastern gambusia), and are sustainable during dry periods, we are undertaking ongoing maintenance and monitoring.