Fish as Fins

Introduction

Fish as Fins translates Australia’s threatened fish data into a single dorsal fin form. Each section of fin rays represents a broad fish habitat group, and each ray represents one threatened fish species.

The image uses the structure of a fin to gather together a very diverse group of animals, from freshwater stream specialists and river fish to marine and migratory species. Line style shows conservation status, including conservation dependent species.

How to read the infographic

Each section of the dorsal fin represents one fish habitat group. Each ray represents one threatened fish species. Line style shows conservation status:

• light dotted = Extinct / Extinct in the Wild

• round-dotted = Critically Endangered

• dashed = Endangered

• solid = Vulnerable

• heavy solid = Conservation Dependent

The fin form is not a biological diagram. It is a visual structure for comparing species counts and conservation status across fish habitat groups.

Why fish as fins?

I chose a dorsal fin because it is an immediately recognisable fish form, while also being well suited to the series rule: one line becomes one species. The fin rays create a natural structure for showing species counts, conservation status, and group size.

The metaphor keeps the visual language simple. Rather than drawing many different fish species, the infographic gathers them into one shared anatomical form.

Why these groupings?

The species are arranged into broad habitat and ecological groupings to make a varied dataset easier to read. Some groups are based on freshwater habitats, such as galaxiids, small freshwater benthics, and large river fish. Others capture more specialised or less familiar groups, such as pygmy perches & blue-eyes, ancient / relic lineages, and marine & migratory species.

The groupings are designed for visual comparison and communication. They are not intended to replace formal taxonomic classification.

Groupings shown in the infographic

Galaxiids — 29 species
The largest grouping in the infographic, including many cold-water stream specialists.

Marine & migratory — 25 species
Marine and migratory fish, including sharks and rays, grouped to show threatened species beyond freshwater systems.

Small freshwater benthics — 10 species
Small freshwater species associated with bottom or near-bottom habitats, including gudgeons, gobies, and hardyheads.

Pygmy perches & blue-eyes — 8 species
Small freshwater fish, often associated with restricted habitats and localised ranges.

Large river fish — 7 species
Larger freshwater river species, including cods, perches, and iconic river fish.

Tropical freshwater — 5 species
Freshwater species associated with northern or tropical systems, including rainbowfish and allies.

Ancient, cave & relic lineages — 5 species
A small grouping for unusual or evolutionarily distinctive fish, including lampreys and cave-associated or relic forms.

What the infographic reveals

Galaxiids and marine & migratory species form the two largest threatened fish groupings in this visual summary. Freshwater species dominate many of the remaining groups, showing how strongly threatened fish are tied to streams, rivers, wetlands, springs, and specialised aquatic habitats.

Data note

This infographic is based on the EPBC Act threatened fauna list, reorganised into broad visual groupings for the Shapes of Survival series. Species counts reflect the dataset used at the time the artwork was created.

Series note

Fish as Fins is part of Shapes of Survival, a visual series that transforms threatened species data into organic forms.

Sources

This series draws on publicly available threatened-species information, including:

• EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna - the primary source for species names and conservation status categories used in the visualisations.