''Cairnsichthys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

rainbowfish The rainbowfish or Melanotaeniidae is a family of small, colourful freshwater fish found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea (including islands in Cenderawasih Bay and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia), Sulawesi and Madagascar. The l ...

es from the subfamily

Melanotaeniinae Melanotaeniinae the Australian rainbowfishes is a subfamily of the rainbowfishes of the family Melanotaeniidae. They are a group of small, colourful, freshwater fish found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, islands in Cenderawasih B ...

. The genus is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to freshwater streams in eastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in north eastern Australia. The genus was designated as a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus in 1928 by John T. Nichols and Henry C. Raven but in 2018 a second species was assigned to the genus.

Species

*''

Cairnsichthys bitaeniatus The Daintree rainbowfish (''Cairnsichthys bitaeniatus'') is a species of rainbowfish endemic to Australia. This species is endemic to the wet tropics of north eastern Queensland where it has been recorded from the Cooper Creek and nearby Hutchins ...

'' Allen,

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as ...

& Raadik, 2018 - Daintree rainbowfish *''

Cairnsichthys rhombosomoides The Cairns rainbowfish (''Cairnsichthys rhombosomoides'') is a species of rainbowfish endemic to Australia. This species is endemic to the wet tropics of north eastern Queensland from the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation in the north south to ...

'' (Nichols & Raven, 1928) - Cairns rainbowfish

Etymology

The genus is named after the Australian city of Cairns with the suffix ''ichthys'' which is

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for "fish".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18521241 Melanotaeniinae Far North Queensland Ray-finned fish genera