Australia & New Guinea Fishes Association

ANGFA Life Member

Dave Wilson

Dave Wilson is a Northern Territory-based field naturalist, breeder and, with his wife Robyn, proprietor of Aquagreen, an aquaculture business supplying native rainbowfishes and aquatic plants to hobbyists across Australia and overseas. He is one of ANGFA's most prolific field contributors, with articles stretching from a 1990 Qld Newsletter collecting report to a 2023 Fishes of Sahul feature, and has served as ANGFA National President.

A self-described "puddle pirate", Dave's field and conservation work extends well beyond the hobby: he has worked closely with traditional owners in the remote Northern Territory documenting fishes and other aquatic animals, assisted goby specialist Dr Helen Larson's scientific collecting, and was awarded a Pride of Australia medal in 2017 for that conservation work. In 2001 Larson honoured his contribution by naming a new species after him — Wilson's Mangrovegoby, Mugilogobius wilsoni. He was honoured a second time in 2019, when Michael Hammer and colleagues described the Little Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia wilsoni, citing Dave as the first person to document its small, isolated population south of Darwin — going back to specimens he first collected from Burton Creek as early as 1988.

This account is based upon his contributions found across ANGFA's publications.

Personal background

Dave Wilson casting a net in Anniversary Creek, NT
Dave Wilson casting in Anniversary Creek, NT. Photo: Jennifer Palmer, In-Stream 18(3).

Dave is self-confessed 'puddle pirate' and has provided great support to many local and visiting scientists over the years, assisting with collecting and documenting unusual animals including gobies in the Darwin region. Dave is also well-known and highly regarded in ANGFA circles as he is a massive supporter and contributor to the club to the extent that he was granted the honour of life membership. He has worked tirelessly and generously to promote the sustainable use and conservation of native aquatic animals and plants including working closely with traditional owners in the remote Northern Territory.

Dave and Robyn's Aquagreen has also played a quiet conservation role of its own: in 2019 it hosted the quarantine of a juvenile Freshwater Sawfish — a Critically Endangered species — before its release to Territory Wildlife Park, and Dave's own account of handling adult sawfish notes just how quickly things can go wrong: "the reaction time of one young, fit diver was approximately 0.18 seconds… there were two neat rows of holes on the diver's hand (Dave Wilson in the 1990s)."

Contributions to ANGFA Publications

  • 26 authored/co-authored articles located across Fishes of Sahul, In-Stream and the Qld Newsletter 16 in Fishes of Sahul (1992–2023) · 6 in the Qld Newsletter · 4 in In-Stream
  • 10 further articles from ANGFA News and ANGFA Vic News
  • 27 individual photo credits found across the corpus, reflecting his frequent role as field photographer on other authors' species profiles and trip reports
  • Two species named in his honour: Wilson's Mangrovegoby, Mugilogobius wilsoni, described by Dr Helen Larson in 2001, and the Little Rainbowfish, Melanotaenia wilsoni, described by Michael Hammer and colleagues in 2019

Featured contributions

Male Wilson's Mangrovegoby, Mugilogobius wilsoni
Male Wilson's Mangrovegoby. Photo: Dave Wilson, Fishes of Sahul Vol. 32(1), March 2018.

Fish in Focus: Wilson's Mangrovegoby Mugilogobius wilsoni

Fishes of Sahul, Vol. 32(1), March 2018 — with Michael Hammer & Christopher Scharpf

The species-profile of the goby named in Dave's own honour, with an etymology section that doubles as a short, warm tribute to his decades of field and conservation work in the Northern Territory.

Fisheries shark scientist sampling a juvenile Freshwater Sawfish at Aquagreen
Fisheries Shark Scientist Grant Johnson taking a DNA sample from a juvenile Freshwater Sawfish during its quarantine at Aquagreen, 2019. Photo: Dave Wilson, Fishes of Sahul Vol. 37(1), March 2023.

Fish in Focus: Freshwater Sawfish Pristis pristis

Fishes of Sahul, Vol. 37(1), March 2023 — with Matthew Stanton

A detailed account of keeping and handling a Critically Endangered species, drawing on Dave's own decades of first-hand experience — including a close call with an adult sawfish's saw "in the 1990s".

Heli-Fishing the Upper Katherine River

Fishes of Sahul, Vol. 23(3), 2010 — with Leo O'Reilly, Bruce Hansen & Gary Moores

One of the corpus's best-loved trip reports (see also Bruce Hansen's page), with Dave among the four-person party who chartered a helicopter to reach a remote stretch of the Katherine River.

Complete list of contributions

Sorted by publication, then chronologically. Co-authored pieces are included.

Fishes of Sahul (16)
  • Summary – fish distribution surveyVol. 7(2) — Hansen, B., Wilson, D. and Dawson, A.
  • Ondinia purpurea den Hartog (Nymphaeaceae) a personal journeyVol. 15(1) — Chuah, E., Smith, L. and Wilson, D.
  • A visit with the Djelk rangers of central Arnhem LandVol. 16(1) — Wilson, D.
  • The late dry season fish of Arrinyaki CreekVol. 18(2) — Wilson, D.
  • Bedjal – the famous red rainbowfish from Arnhem LandVol. 20(3) — Wilson, D.
  • Heli-fishing the upper Katherine RiverVol. 23(3) — O’Reilly, L., Hansen, B., Moores, G. and Wilson, D.
  • Chameleon shrimp - Caridina sp. WA-4, collection and captive husbandry in the aquariumVol. 27(3) — Yuen, D., Beard, B. and Wilson, D.
  • Fish in focus: Blackmast Craterocephalus stramineus (Atherinidae)Vol. 30(2) — Tappin, A., Briggs, G., Wilson, D. & Scharpf, C.
  • Fish in focus: Hyrtl’s Catfish Neosilurus hyrtlii (Plotosidae)Vol. 31(1) — Unmack, P.J., Sambell, B., Wilson, D., Lach, M. & Scharpf, C.
  • Fish in focus: Wilson’s Mangrovegoby Mugilogobius wilsoni (Gobiidae)Vol. 32(1) — Wilson, D., Hammer, M. & Scharpf, C.
  • Fish in foscus: Seven-spot Archerfish Toxotes chatareus (Toxotidae)Vol. 32(2) — Briggs, G., Sambell, B., Wilson, D., Martin, K. & Hansen, B. & Scharpf, C.
  • Aquarium fish food for omnivorous fishes and invertebrates – home madeVol. 34(1) — Wilson, D.
  • Fish in focus: Blueback Blue-eye Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis (Pseudomugilidae)Vol. 34(1) — Gauci, P, Lange, G., Wilson, D., Briggs, G., Unmack, P.J. & Scharpf, C.
  • Fish in foscus: Craterocephalus “stercusmuscarum” group species (Atherinidae)Vol. 34(2) — Moy, K.G., Wilson, D., Briggs, G., Hansen, B., Unmack, P.J. & Scharpf, C.
  • Fish in Focus: Beachrock Mangrovegoby Mugilogobius littorals (Gobiidae)Vol. 35(1) — Wilson, D. & Scharpf, C.
  • Fish in Focus: Freshwater Sawfish Pristis pristis (Pristidae)Vol. 37(1) — Wilson, D. & Stanton, M.
In-Stream (4)
  • Setting up a biotype tank.Vol. 9(2), Apr 2000 — Dave Wilson
  • An unusual parasite.Vol. 9(4), Aug 2000 — Dave Wilson
  • Pogostemon stellatus (Keng, 1978).Vol. 10(3), Jun 2001 — Dave Wilson
  • Heli Fishing the upper Katherine River.Vol. 19(3), Mar 2010 — Leo O’Reilly, Bruce Hansen, Gary Moores & Dave Wilson.
Qld Newsletter (6)
  • Field Trip - Personal - Collecting in Scot's Creek, Northern TerritoryVol. 6(4), Aug 1990 — Dave Wilson
  • That's a Good Idea - Drip FeederVol. 6(5), Oct 1990 — Dave Wilson
  • That's a Good Idea - Carbon Dioxide GeneratorVol. 12(2), Mar 1996 — Dave Wilson
  • Article - Custom Lighting from the SupermarketVol. 13(1), Jan 1997 — Dave Wilson
  • ANGFA's A-Z Notebook - Native Aquatic Plants - P for Pogostemon - Pogostemon stellatus stellatus (Star Rotala, Eusteralis, Dysophylla)Vol. 14(6), Nov 1998 — Dave Wilson
  • ANGFA's A-Z Notebook - Native Freshwater Fish - P for Pristis - Pristis microdon (Freshwater Sawfish)Vol. 15(1), Jan 1999 — Dave Wilson