Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713:body:0:p21
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 129347–132363

(Ball 2004; Ball 2021 pers. comm.). The water mouse rarely creates distinctive freestanding mounds along the central Queensland coast (Ball 2021 pers. comm.). A suspected mud shelter in a human spoil pile is reported from Curtis Island (QGC 2013).
Figure 3: An example of water mouse habitat in the Mackay region.
Source: © Derek Ball.
Recorded habitat: far north Queensland
Recorded water mouse habitat information for far north Queensland is limited to two confirmed observations and the detection of feeding sign within tidal areas of the lower Barron River delta. Here, the water mouse has been recorded in mangrove forests dominated by spurred mangrove and/or smooth-fruited yellow mangrove with orange mangroves, and in backswamps (Ball & Mitchell 2018; Mitchell 2021 pers. comm.).
There is no recorded information about water mouse shelters in the Cairns region. Anecdotal reports suggest the presence of free-standing mounds in the Hinchinbrook channel (WMRG 2022).
Figure 4: Examples of mangroves at recorded water mouse locations in Cairns.
Source: © Melissa Bruton (left @ Jack Barnes Bicentennial Boardwalk in 2022; right @ Redden Island in 2022).
Recorded habitat: Northern Territory
The water mouse is recorded from widely dispersed locations across the Northern Territory. It occurs in both tidal and freshwater areas, with records from mangroves, saltmarsh and ephemeral freshwater wetlands (Redhead & McKean 1975; Magnusson et al. 1976; Woinarski et al. 2000). Detailed information is provided below for each of the widely dispersed detection locations.
Arnhem Land (Glyde River): Extensive (> 30 km2) seasonally inundated marine couch and nutgrass (Cyperus scariosus) grassland on a seasonal floodplain. Scattered low chenier ridges and patches of low chenopod shrubland punctuate the grassland, which has abundant crab activity in the dry season (Woinarski et al. 2000).
Arnhem Land (Tomkinson River): A tiny (4 m x 4 m) patch of marine couch surrounded by tidal mangroves: grey mangrove, white-flowered black mangrove (Lumnitzera racemosa), milky mangrove and spurred mangrove (Magnusson et al. 1976). A water mouse was also recovered from the stomach of a crocodile much further upstream along the same river, in an area with black ebony (Diospyros humilis), grey mangrove, river mangrove, large bluegrass (Ischaemum australe), marine couch and nutgrass (Magnusson et al. 1976).
Kakadu National Park: The coastal plain and tidal section of the South Alligator River (Parker 1973; Woinarski 2004). Detailed habitat information is not available for the single historical record from 1903.
Melville Island: Tall closed forest of small-flowered orange mangrove (Bruguiera parviflora) and spurred mangrove (Magnusson et al. 1976).
Daly River: Receding grassy ephemeral freshwater lagoons surrounded by Melaleuca sp. and freshwater mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula) with a good cover of introduced para grass (Urochloa mutica) (Redhead & McKean 1975).
A sizeable mud mound shelter housing three water