This painting shows namardaka (nail fish) and the manworr (leaves of a water lily). There isn’t just one name for water lily. You call it manbardmo if you are talking about the stem and the flower, mandem for the root and barrdjungka for the fruit.

You eat the manbardmo, mandem and the barrdjungka. The barrdjungka is found under the water and is food for (magpie goose), djilikuybi (wandering whistling duck), and for bininj (Aboriginal people) too. The barrdjungka is cooked or ripe when it is soft and you can peel it and eat it like that but I like to roast it on the hot ashes. Nakadilinj (Don) Namundja.

Description Language name: Namardaka Scientific name: Neosilurus ater Family: Plotosidae Common name: Nail fish (after the poisonous spine or nail on the dorsal and lateral fins), Eel-tail catfish and Black catfish. Size: Up to 50cm, usually about 30cm Habitat: Likes bottom of swift flowing sections of rivers and streams, also found in still water Diet: Aquatic insects, small crustaceans and detritus Distribution: Timor Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria drainages; also in southern Papua New Guinea.