The Australian arid-zone with its dry desert climate is home to fascinating and unique aquatic ecosystems. The Stony Plains bioregion around Lake Eyre is of particular interest, as the Lake Eyre Basin and groundwater Great Artesian Basin provide a complex and interactive system of spring and river habitats. Across this region, we are investigating how the aquatic food web differs across the various habitat types and also the role that individual level variability may play in these food webs. Focusing on the Desert Goby (Chlamydogobius eremius), we have investigated individual variability in terms of their food web role (e.g. diet and stable isotope signature) and individual behaviours (e.g. boldness and exploratory behavioural traits). Isotope analysis has shown evidence of significant variability in the food-web role of gobies within and between populations. Similarly, we found evidence of significant variability within and between goby populations across various behavioural axes. This supports the idea that individual level variability plays a major role in food webs, and that behavioural differences may be an important source of that variability. Further work on these systems will focus on how habitat characteristics promote within-species variability and food-web stability, to further explore this exciting area of ecological theory.