Murray hardyhead (Photo: Michael Hammer).

The Murray hardyhead is a small fish, commonly growing up to 40mm to 65mm in size. Found around the margins of lakes, wetlands, backwaters and billabongs, the Murray hardyhead prefers open water, shallow, slow-flowing or still habitats, with sand or silt substrates, but can also be found in deeper habitats with dense aquatic vegetation. The species appears to thrive in ephemeral deflation basin lakes and can survive in highly saline environments.

Increased salinisation, habitat degradation, altered flow regimes, and impacts of alien species are suspected to contribute to the decline of the species. The Murray hardyhead is listed as 'vulnerable' under the Environment Protect and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999 (Murray-Darling Basin Authority 2010).

Southern Bell Frog (Photo: SAMDB NRM Board).

The Southern Bell Frog is one of the largest frog species in Australia, reaching up to 104mm in length. Animals vary in colour and pattern, but normally are olive to bright green, with irregular gold, brown, black or bronze spotting.

The animal can be found in both temporary and permanent wetlands along the South Australian River Murray, and also in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Sometimes they can be seen basking in the sun, but most commonly feeding at night, even eating other frogs. They are most active in spring and summer, when the male frog can be heard calling for a mate. Females lay jelly-like egg masses (up to 4000), the tadpoles will metamorphose into frogs in summer or autumn.

The population of this frog has declined throughout Australia, but it remains locally abundant in parts of the South Australian River Murray corridor. The Southern Bell Frog is listed as 'vulnerable' under the Environment Protect and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999(Department for Environment and natural Resources 2010).

Regent Parrot (Photo: Rod Bradtke).

The Regent Parrot can be recognised by their distinctively bright colours. The males are a brilliant golden-yellow with a dark green back, blue-black flight feathers and a red band across the mid-wings. Female birds and juveniles are similarly patterned but are greener around the head and neck.
In Spring they nest in small colonies, of up to 30 pairs, along the River Murray. The female parrots incubates the eggs and sit with the newly hatched chicks while the males flock to search for food. These male feeding flocks can sometimes be seen heading to and from their nests along the river.

During the breeding season Regent Parrots nest in the hollows that occur in mature and dead River Red Gums. From these trees they forage over large areas, up to 12km from their nests. They feed on the seeds, buds, flowers and sometimes on insect larvae.
Regent Parrots need flight corridors of native vegetation that link their nest colonies on the river with good feeding areas such as large intact areas of mallee woodlands.

In the past this parrot was destroyed as an agricultural pest and many nesting and foraging areas were cleared. While destruction of this bird is no longer permitted and the clearance of native vegetation is regulated, the Regent Parrot is still in decline. The Regent Parrot is listed as 'vulnerable' under the Environment Protect and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999(Department for Environment and natural Resources 2010).