THE Ecohealth program, coordinated by North Coast Local Land Services, has officially begun in the Macleay Valley catchment area and has already turned up a surprise.
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A lamprey, an ancient species of jawless fish, was caught in the sampling nets, the first time ever the species has been recorded in the Macleay River.
Dr Gavin Butler from Grafton Fisheries Centre said the structure of the fish community in the Macleay has been found to be largely as expected, with this one surprising exception.
“Lampreys are an ancient fish and along with the hagfishes, are the sole surviving representatives of jawless vertebrates,” he said.
“What makes the capture so interesting is that lampreys are generally only recorded as far north as Newcastle, with only one or two captured previously in North Coast rivers and none in the Macleay Basin.
“Recent captures in Queensland suggest lampreys may be more widely distributed than previously thought, however, genetic analysis of the Queensland samples has shown that at least some populations may be a previously undescribed species.
“DNA from the Macleay lamprey is being analysed and may provide 'the missing link' between the southern and northern populations.”
Max Osborne, senior land services officer for North Coast Local Land Services, said good progress had been made on the project.
“The freshwater fish sampling has almost been completed at 27 sites throughout the Macleay Basin with some extremely interesting results,” he said.
The Macleay Ecohealth project is a partnership between the North Coast Local Land Services, Northern Tablelands Local Land Services, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, the University of New England, NSW Office of Water, Kempsey Shire Council and the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries).
