I_am_Elmo Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 If I put whitebait in a pond, obviously they will grow into bigger fish, do they need the saltwater migration for them to breed or would they happily breed in a pond? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 It depends on the species and the conditions in the pond. I would go for highly unlikely to spawn, and even more unlikely to survive. Koaro and kokopu are capable of forming landlocked populations in the wild, so those ones don't specifically need a marine stage (though given the option they take it). Breeding and hatching is triggered by floodwaters in autumn. Quite an interesting cycle really.l I understand Charles Mitchell has captive breeding stock for his whitebait farm, but I don't know if they spawn in a natural waterway (but partitioned so they can't escape) or artificial (giant tanks) environment. If it was easy to do he would make megabucks and he has been researching it for years... Sorry! However they all make good pond fish, providing the water is cool enough and they can't jump or climb out. Yes, climb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormalicious Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Silly Question perhaps, but what species of fish is white bait? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 They are all galaxiids ("ga-lax-id"). There are some 50-ish species in the world, 26-ish in NZ, most of which are not found elsewhere. Whitebait are the juveniles of five species, in order of commonality- inanga (G. maculatus) (by far the most common, 90%ish) koaro (G. brevipinnis) banded kokopu (G. fasciatus) giant kokopu (G. argenteus) shortjaw kokopu (G. postvectus) All the other species are found in the south island and often have fairly geographically restricted habitats. Those ones don't have a marine stage, they do have juveniles similar to whitebait, just they stay in the rivers. Oh, and the six native mudfish (Neochanna) are part of the Galaxidae family. It is far too early in the morning for this much geekery....! Must go find something peasant-like to do.... anyone got a Woman's Day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Geekery is more interesting than a woman's magazine any day! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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