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Craterocephalus eyresii

species of fish

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ2223733 ↗
Source-derived summary

Craterocephalus eyresii, the Lake Eyre hardyhead, is a species of freshwater silverside from the family Atherinidae which is endemic to the Lake Eyre basin in Australia.

Until the late 20th century, this taxon was more widely circumscribed. After it was revealed to be a cryptic species complex, C.eyresii was split up into four species – apart from the Lake Eyre hardyhead proper, these are the Darling River hardyhead (C. amniclus), Finke River hardyhead (C. centralis), and Murray hardyhead (C. fluviatilis), each of the four being restricted to their namesake river basins. Until then, only the Murray-Murrumbidgee population had been comprehensively studied. Thus, until the 1990s, much of the published information which supposedly refers to "Lake Eyre hardyheads" actually refers to the Murray hardyhead.

Description

Craterocephalus eyresii is a small, drab yellowish-grey coloured fish with greenish-silvery underside, transparent yellowish fins, and dark melanpophores around a silver mid-lateral stripe. There are two dorsal fins which are widely separated with the first dorsal fin originating before the tips of the ventral fins and the anal fin origin lies directly underneath the origin of second dorsal fin. The caudal fin is forked. The fins are yellowish in colour. It attains a maximum total length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Craterocephalus eyresii” as species of fish. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Craterocephalus, eyresii and species.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current 205-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Craterocephalus, eyresii and species providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Craterocephalus eyresii”, the useful work is to connect “species of fish” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2223733. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Craterocephalus eyresii”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Craterocephalus eyresii primary sources, Craterocephalus eyresii archive and Craterocephalus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Craterocephalus eyresii”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Craterocephalus eyresii” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.