Scientific name: Pseudomugil Gertrudae Trunding Creek locale
Origin : Described from ‘Rivulet in sago forest at Ngaiguli, Terangan, Aru Island, Aru Islands, Maluku, Indonesia’, corresponding to the island now normally referred to as ‘Trangan’ in the Aru Islands group, eastern Indonesia.
The islands are located in the Arafura Sea, with western New Guinea to the north and the Arnhem Land Region of Australia’s Northern Territory to the south, and though they lie within Maluku province of eastern Indonesia, are part of the Australian continent in a geological sense.
Populations are now known from numerous rivers draining into the Timor Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia, with a range extending eastwards from the city of Darwin through the Kakadu National Park, Arnhem Land, and Carpentaria as far the Cape York Peninsula.
It’s also known from the islands of Bathurst, Melville, and Groot Eylandt, plus some smaller islands in the Torres Strait.
Known localities in the Northern Territory include the rivers Moyle, Daly, Finniss, Adelaide, Alligator, Blyth, Liverpool, Cadell, Buckingham, Cato, and some smaller drainages around Darwin.
In Queensland it’s been recorded in the Wenlock, Embley, Dulhunty, Coen, Jardine, Olive, Jacky Jacky, Mciver, Endeavour, Barron, Mulgrave, Russell, Johnstone, Moresby, Tully and Murray watersheds, plus some nutrient-poor coastal lakes in the Flattery Point and around Shelburne Bay.
In Papua New Guinea records exist from the Bensbach, Pahoturi, and Fly (Elevala River and Lake Bosset, aka Lake Herbert Hoover) river systems but it may be more widely-distributed in southern drainages of the country and neighbouring state of Papua, Indonesia.
Wild examples are uncommon in the aquarium hobby with the majority of those traded bred commercially for the purpose, though some populations are available and usually labelled with collection details in order to discourage hybridisation, e.g., ‘Aru II’, ‘Aru IV’, ‘Cadell River’, etc.
Difficulty in keeping: Easy
Maximum size: 3-4cm Males 3-4 cm Females
Selling size: 2 cm and above
Temperature: 18-26 °C
pH: 6-7.8 Our fish are bred and grown at a ph between 6.0 and 7.5
Diet: Likely to feed on floating or suspended zooplankton, phytoplankton, and invertebrates in nature, and in the aquarium must be offered items of a suitable size.
Ideally much of the diet should comprise live foods such as Daphnia, Moina, Artemia nauplii, micro worm, etc., although small/crushed floating dried foods are also accepted.
Disclaimer: Photos are taken of our own fish and usually the breeding parents, photos are for reference only and actual fish you will receive might slightly vary. We sometimes use photos taken by friends or other hobbyists.