Fishes

Explore Queensland’s fishes through our fact sheets and image gallery, and discover the enormous diversity in their size, shape and reproduction.

Overview

Fish are aquatic vertebrates that breathe using gills, lack fully developed limbs, and swim with the aid of fins (when these are present).

They form by far the largest group of vertebrates in the world. The two main groupings that make up fishes in Australian waters are the Agnatha, or jawless fishes (hagfishes and lampreys) and Gnathostomata, which includes the classes Chondrichthyes (chimaeras, sharks and rays), Sarcopterygii (lungfish), and Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes). Fishes are found in virtually all aquatic environments, from mountain streams and desert springs, to the deep sea.

There is enormous diversity in the size, shape and mode of reproduction in fishes. Scales, fins, teeth and even eyes may variously be present or absent. Some species are found in all oceans of the world, while others may be restricted to a particular habitat within a single stream. The types of habitat fish occupy, and their tolerance to extremes in temperature, pH and salinity, also varies greatly according to species. Some are capable of living in temperatures below freezing, while others have been recorded in hot springs of more than 40º C.

Australia has a large and highly diverse range of fishes relative to the rest to the world. It is home to more than 5,000 of a total of about 32,500 species worldwide.

Common questions

“Fish” should be used for either an individual fish, or a group of a single species. “Fishes” is the correct term for multiple species.

Yes, sharks and rays are fish. They form the group known as elasmobranchs, or cartilaginous fishes. Their skeletons are composed of cartilage, whereas that of bony fishes is composed of harder and more well-calcified bone.

Australia has many unique and interesting fishes, but perhaps the most notable is the Australian Lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, which is only found in south-east Queensland. It has a single fully functional lung, as well as gills, and primitive lobe-like fins.

The Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus, is Australia’s largest species, reaching at least 12 metres. It occurs worldwide in tropical to warm temperate seas.

Fact sheets

View more

https://collections.qm.qld.gov.au/topics/206/porcupinefish-swimbladder

Porcupinefish Swim-bladder

These strange leathery objects found occasionally on beaches are special internal organs of the porcupinefish.

Learn more

https://collections.qm.qld.gov.au/topics/124/estuarine-stonefish

Estuarine Stonefish

Stonefish are the most venomous of all fishes. They are found throughout shallow coastal waters of the northern half of Australia.

Learn more

https://collections.qm.qld.gov.au/topics/123/bullrout

Bullrout

Bullrout are responsible for most fish stings that occur in upper tidal reaches and freshwaters of New South Wales and Queensland.

Learn more

Images

Freckled porcupinefish, Diodon holocanthus - Image: Queensland Museum, Bruce Cowell
Zebra Shark, Stegostoma fasciatum. Image: Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch
Giant manta ray, Manta birostris. Image: Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch
Striped scat, Selenotoca multifasciata. Image: Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch
Whitespotted guitarfish, Ghynchobatus australiae. Image: Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch
Mangrove jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus. Image: Queensland Museum, Bruce Cowell
Whale shark, Rhincodon typus. Image: Queensland Museum, Jon Carpenter
Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri. Image: Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch
Pyramid butterfly fish, Hemitaurichthys polylepis. Image: Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch
Freckled porcupinefish, Diodon holocanthus - Image: Queensland Museum, Bruce Cowell
Zebra Shark, Stegostoma fasciatum. Image: Queensland Museum, Gary Cranitch