Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Fly River rainbowfish (Melanotaenia sexlineata), recorded as Endangered
Fly River rainbowfish (Melanotaenia sexlineata). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Fly River rainbowfish

Melanotaenia sexlineata

Fly River rainbowfish is endemic to the Upper Fly River in Papua New Guinea.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Melanotaenia sexlineata
Recorded from
Papua New Guinea
Taxonomy
Atheriniformes · Melanotaeniidae · Melanotaenia

The rainbowfish

Rainbowfishes are slender, schooling freshwater fishes of New Guinea and Australia, usually from a named river or lake.

Silversides and rainbowfishes are usually slender schooling fishes of lakes, estuaries, or clear streams.

Range and habitat

It is endemic to the Upper Fly River in Papua New Guinea.

GBIF currently lists 30 occurrence points. Those points follow where people logged the taxon — museum drawers and surveys included — not a closed range boundary.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Habits

Silversides and rainbowfishes need clear water and a place to school. A lake form does not commute to the next basin.

In crisis

Fly River rainbowfish is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Fly River rainbowfish — often a short stub, Wikidata item Q1771437 and GBIF occurrence geography. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Lake Kurumoi rainbowfish (Melanotaenia parva), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Lake Kurumoi rainbowfish

Melanotaenia parva
Photograph of Kokas Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia kokasensis), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Kokas Rainbowfish

Melanotaenia kokasensis
Photograph of Bosemani Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani), recorded as EndangeredEN

Bosemani Rainbow

Melanotaenia boesemani
Photograph of Lake Eacham rainbowfish (Melanotaenia eachamensis), recorded as EndangeredEN

Lake Eacham rainbowfish

Melanotaenia eachamensis

Quick answers

What is Fly River rainbowfish?
It is endemic to the Upper Fly River in Papua New Guinea.
What is the conservation status of Fly River rainbowfish?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Melanotaenia sexlineata. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Fly River rainbowfish live?
It is endemic to the Upper Fly River in Papua New Guinea.
Why is Fly River rainbowfish in crisis?
It is Endangered on Wikidata. Read the official Red List assessment for the criteria.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Melanotaenia sexlineata?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Fly River rainbowfish a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.