The Goyder River is a 171 km long river in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The headwaters of the river rise at the base of the Mitchell Ranges and are fed by spring discharge from an extensive dolomite aquifer[3] that supports areas of rainforest along the banks. The river then flows north west before crossing the Central Arnhem Road then veering north and later forming multiple braided channels and feeding the Arafura Swamp before eventually discharging into the Glyde River which in turn empties into Castlereagh Bay and the Arafura Sea.
The swamp area occupies an area of 700 square kilometres in the dry season and is of great cultural significance to the Yolngu people, in particular the Ramingining community, which is located on the edge of the swamp.
The river catchment occupies an area of 10,391 square kilometres and is wedged between the Blyth River catchment to the west, the Walker and Roper River catchments to the south, and the Buckingham and Koolatong River catchments to the east.
A range of fauna are found in the river, there are 39 species of fish including Macleay\’s glassfish, barred grunter, fly-specked hardyhead, freshwater sole, golden goby, northern trout gudgeon, Gulf saratoga, barramundi, oxeye herring, rainbowfish, black-banded rainbowfish, bony bream, salmon catfish, Berney\’s catfish, freshwater longtom, seven-spot archerfish and the sleepy cod.
