The Fitzmaurice River is a river in the

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Course

The river drains into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf in the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

from a source just north of the Wombungi homestead. The river flows in a westerly direction between the Wingate mountains to the north and the Yamberra Mountains to the south. The area is quite remote and largely unsettled, and the river itself forms the southern boundary of the township of Wadeye. The

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

formed at the river mouth is tidal in nature and in near pristine condition.

Catchment

The

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

occupies an area of and is wedged between the catchment areas for Victoria River to the south and Moyle River to the north. The river has a mean annual outflow of .

Fauna

A total of 16 species of fish are found in the river including the

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, Macleay's glassfish, fork-talked catfish, fly-specked hardyhead, mouth almighty, spangled perch, barramundi, oxeye herring,

rainbowfish Rainbowfishes are small, colourful freshwater fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Melanotaeniidae, found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea (including islands in Cenderawasih Bay and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia), Sula ...

, exquisite rainbowfish, northern trout gudgeon, bony bream, catfish, and the seven-spot archerfish. A large number of

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

s—both saltwater and fresh—inhabit the river. Wild cattle and bush pigs can be found in the surrounding countryside.

History

It was first charted in 1839 by European explorers aboard under the command of John Lort Stokes. It was named after Lewis Roper Fitzmaurice, a mate and assistant surveyor on ''Beagle''. In 1977, Australian bushman Rodney Ansell was stuck for months on the river, after his boat capsized in the estuary and he ventured upstream for a source of fresh water.

References

External links