  Excited levels were attributed to $^{81}_{31}$Ga$_{50}$ for the first time
which were fed in the $\beta$-decay of its mother nucleus $^{81}$Zn produced in
the fission of $^{nat}$U using the ISOL technique. We show that the structure
of this nucleus is consistent with that of the less exotic proton-deficient
N=50 isotones within the assumption of strong proton Z=28 and neutron N=50
effective shell effects.
