A locally extinct fish species returns — to a golf club in SA!
In early December 2025, a historic moment for fish conservation in South Australia unfolded as 500 locally extinct Olive Perchlets were released. Their new home is not somewhere you’d usually expect to find threatened fish – because it’s in the middle of the greens, at the Glenelg Golf Course in western Adelaide!
This wetland is a perfect location for the little fish to breed, as it’s protected within the fenced golf course, is carefully managed by course coordinator Tim Warren and staff, has lots of native aquatic vegetation for the fish to hide in (thanks to the work of Monina Gilby), and, importantly, it never dries out!
The Olive Perchlet (Ambassis agassizii) was once found in South Australia, but has not been recorded in the state since the early 1980s. The species is a small, shiny, almost transparent little fish, that is fond of mosquito larvae and hides away in reeds. Habitat degradation and loss, alien fish, river regulation and more affected the fish, resulting in their local extinction ~40 years ago in South Australia. Now, there is a lot of work being done to improve their habitat. And, after years of planning and collaboration with local landscape Boards, indigenous groups, landholders, Victorian Fisheries Authority, PIRSA and the Big Little Four Group (fish conservation project working group), we now have a population that can breed up here in SA, to hopefully act as a future source for wild releases.
This population of Olive Perchlet was originally sourced from the Bogan River in NSW, and with help from Vic Fisheries Authority, Snobs Creek Conservation Hatchery, North West Aquaculture and The Department of Primary Industries and Regions, these fish have now made their way to SA.
Sylvia, Mark, Richard and I from NGT were joined by representatives from Green Adelaide (including Tammy, Liberty and presiding member Professor Chris Daniels), Tim Warren of Glenelg Golf Course and Monina Gilbey, out on the green. Several of us waded out and gently lowered buckets of little fish into the wetlands. It was great to see the little schools of fish swimming off around the reeds. You can hear a 5-minute interview with Dr Sylvia Zukowski about the release on ABC radio here.
Read the article on ABC News here:
Green Adelaide has also produced a great little video, which you can view here:
The Olive Perchlet release at Glenelg was also recently reported in the Australian Turfgrass Management Journal. This is not a journal our work usually appears in, but it’s so great to see golf courses getting on board with conservation! – Please see page 54-55 of the navigation.
This project is a collaboration between Green Adelaide, Nature Glenelg Trust, and Glenelg Golf Club. This work was funded by Green Adelaide.
This project was made possible thanks to Green Adelaide, Nature Glenelg Trust, Glenelg Golf Course, Monina Gilby, Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA), Snobs Creek Conservation Hatchery, North West Aquaculture and Department of Primary Industries and Regions.
