Bullies Author: James Cooper First published in Aquarium World August 2013   Introduction Attractive, tough and full of character, Bullies are a hardy and easy to obtain New Zealand native fish. The name bully is short for Cock-a-bully, a name given to these fish by the early European settlers; it is thought the name is a mispronunciation of ‘Kokapuru’ the Maori word for small fish. Cran's bully male (Photo credit Charles Fryett)  Bullies live in a wide range of habitats throughout New Zealand

Collecting/selling of native aquatic animals - legalities Started by Aquila, November 2, 2010 http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1953/0031/latest/whole.html   I regularily have to deal with inquires from the public about this sort of thing, so I have summarized some points below: "Approval is required from the Ministers of Conservation under 26ZM (3) and/or Fisheries under 26ZM(2) of the Conservation Act 1987 to transfer and/or release any live aquatic life into freshw

Going native opens up a whole new range of species, communities and aquarium styles to the fish keeper. Some of the fish may seem familiar – anyone who knows gobies or triplefins will instantly recognise the native bullies – while other species are totally unique. The different habitats that these fish occur in leads to entirely new aquascapes or biotope options. Furthermore, the aquarium keeper can actually visit the streams that these fish live in, catch the fish themselves and even model thei

Native Glass Shrimp Author: James Cooper First published in Aquarium World February 2014 Parataya curvirostis Max Size: 9cm Temperature: 5 – 26°C pH: 6.5-8.5 (high reading due to marine larval stage, 6.5-7.5 best for adults.) These peaceful detritivores are great as a clean up crew for an aquarium, especially for their ability to consume Black Beard Algae. Quite common New Zealand wide, even on Stewart Island, they can also penetrate inland quite far but their full range has never been investig

Torrentfish (Māori: Panoko) Author: Darren Stevens Excerpt from Bluecod and Torrentfish first published in Aquarium World May 2014 Torrentfish (Photo credit Charles Fryett) As their European name suggests, torrentfish (Cheimarrichthys fosteri) often live in swift flowing rapids. They are superbly adapted to life in fast water with a flattened head and very large pectoral fins, which help to keep them on to the bottom, and a powerful square tail to enable them to dart from stone to stone. Torrent