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Kōrero: Freshwater fish

Common smelt

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Common smelt

There are two New Zealand species in the Retropinnidae family: the common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) and Stokell’s smelt (Stokellia anisodon), and it is difficult to tell them apart. Both have a distinct cucumber smell. Common smelt swim in large, roving shoals in estuaries. Māori, who knew them as pōrohe and paraki, caught them and dried them in the sun.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Department of Conservation

Reference: 10049722

by Stephen Moore

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Bob McDowall, Freshwater fish – Bullies, smelt and grayling, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/11123/common-smelt (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Bob McDowall, i tāngia i te 1 March 2009.