New Zealand grayling facts for kids
Quick facts for kids New Zealand grayling |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
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Prototroctes
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| Species: |
oxyrhynchus
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The New Zealand grayling (Prototroctes oxyrhynchus), also known as upokororo, pokororo, paneroro, and kanaekura (Māori), is an extinct smelt of the genus Prototroctes, which was found only in lowland rivers and streams of New Zealand. They were an amphidromous species—spawning in freshwater streams and developing to maturity in saltwater.
Though abundant through the early colonial period, by the 1870s their population had declined. The last known specimen was caught in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Deforestation and predation, competition and disease from introduced trout likely led to the New Zealand grayling's extinction. The impact of introduced diseases from trout has a parallel in Australia, where utterly immense fish kills of the closely related Australian grayling were caused by introduced strains of Saprolegnia shortly after widespread trout stocking commenced (Saville-Kent, 1888; Cadwallader, 1996). Tasmanian populations of Australian have never recovered from this blow and remain relatively vestigial.
In 1951, some years after the last sighting, the species was given full legal protection by the Freshwater Fisheries Regulations, the only New Zealand native freshwater fish to be protected.
In August 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the New Zealand grayling as "Extinct" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.
Description
The New Zealand Grayling matured between 30-45cm in length and slender in shape with the presence of an adipose fin. As an amphidromous fish, when migrating between freshwater and saltwater during, it was found that graylings, originally silver in colour, would darken to a grey or brown, and turn occasionally gold, while the underbelly remained light.
See also
In Spanish: Prototroctes oxyrhynchus para niños
