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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

FISH, INTRODUCED FRESHWATER

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Submitted by admin on April 23, 2009 - 00:46

Carp

(Carassius carassius). Carp appear to have been introduced about 1867 and are present in many waters throughout New Zealand, but principally in the Rotorua and Waikato hydro lakes and Lake Taupo.

Other, but less successful introductions, have included tench (Tinca tinca), still present in sluggish rivers near Oamaru; and bullheads (Amerius catus) in Lake Mahinapua and the lower Waikato River and adjacent lakes; sockeye salmon (Onchorhynchus nerka), which are present as a land-locked stock in Lake Ohau; and the mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) in Lake Ngatu, North Auckland.

Unsuccessful attempts to acclimatise many other species, such as whitefish, lake herring, gudgeon, dace, etc., have been made.

by Brian Turnbull Cunningham, B.SC., Senior Fishery Officer, Marine Department, Wellington.

  • The Fishes of New Zealand, Vol. 1, Phillipps, W. J. (1940)
  • Fresh Water Fishes of New Zealand, Stokell, G. (1955).