Reviving Lungfish: A New Habitat Strategy

0:00It's April 13th. You're listening to Sydney News today, AI Power Local News. Researchers are working to bring back breeding for the Australian lung fish, this ancient fish that's basically our closest living relative, and hasn't, changed in over 100 million years. Listed as vulnerable, it uses a single lung to breathe air and relies on eelgrass called Vialis Naria for hiding eggs and feeding young ones. The stream from the 40-year-old Wivenho Dam on the Brisbane River floods wiped out the plants, leaving old lung fish, but almost no juveniles. The dam blocks plants and seeds from floating down from upstream areas, unlike in rivers like the Marion Burnett, where beds recover quick after. Floods Without ballast Naria, eggs sit exposed for three weeks, easy prey, and larvae stay defenseless for months. Lungfish switch to clams and crayfish to survive, but breeding stalls without that key habitat. Scientists first tried fenced enclosures 750 meters below the dam, growing eelgrass

1:01successfully at first, but the hungry, torpedo-shaped lungfish busted through, rating non-stop, even jumping in during floods. Turtles, carp, tilapia, and goldfish joined the feast, wiping out every patch. Now PhD candidate Colin Burke from Griffith University switched tactics last summer, scattering small lumps of cultivated eelgrass and another plant. Across five shallow spots, over 1.5 kilometers. Stakes helped them catch and root, creating tiny beds along banks that spread out grazing pressure. Early signs lague with plants popping up, and Burke plans to expand further downstream once his research publishes. This could restart a vital feedback loop for lungfish recovery in the river.