Ianab Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Stella is going to be visiting Taranaki this week and we have arranged a little native fish hunting expedition. Nothing too extreme, just a paddle around in the Patea river at Stratford. This will be Thursday night (27 Nov) after work. I'm thinking about having a paddle and general investigate of the river while it's still light, then get some takeaways for dinner and go back later after dark with torches. River definately has koura, bullies and eels, and we have a large semi-tame eel at home that we can feed. PM me if you want to join us and I can give you some details on where to meet up etc once we get things finalised. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 Well it turned out it was just me and Stella paddling about in the river. But it was an interesting evening 8) Scouted out some spots in the Daylight and came back later with torches. Then we fed the eel in the creek behind the house And went back to the main river again after dark. We found this guy in the pool pictured above, just running across the sand. A large bully. Some weird insect larvae. What I bought home And this hitch hiker, we think it's a bully fry, it's only about 3mm long and almost transparent. Dont know it it will survive, but it went in the tnak with the others. A couple of pics of the Bullies settling into their new tank. Temp is a bit warm, but is well establsihed, two filters and an airwand, so hopefully they will be OK. I was amazed how many bullies there where in the first pool. In some spots you could get 6 or so in the torch beam. We also found out how they hide, they actually wriggle into the sand and then sit there with just eyes and dorsal fin showing, practicallly invisible. They also hide under rocks as you would expect, but the sand thing was unexpected. Started us wondering if sand might be a better substrate for keeping them. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 Looks like you you had a good night. Its always fun exploring the streams etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 Those weird insect larvae creep me out :lol: We caught hundreds of them while whitebaiting last year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 I've noticed them bury themselves too, especially in the pond despite the rocks that are there for cover. They seem to flick their tail to stir up the silt to cover their movement then fly over to a spot near rocks or wood and lie on the bottom then wriggle. Those insects are wierd! Anyone know what they are? I am assuming some sort of damselfly type since they are similar to dragonfly/damselfly larvae. I love the way their backs open and close (I assume some sort of gills). P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Thanks for posting those Ian! I had a good time. Really nice to meet you and always fun exploring a stream! The cray was the biggest one I have ever found, and the bullies burying in sand thing was really neat. After the fish hunt we went looking for invertebrates that come out at night, saw some really interesting ones, including big millipedes, a beetle, and a harvester (looks like a daddy-long-legs with two massive probes out the front, about four times the length of its body, which are apparently part of the jaws.... a new take on eyes being bigger than your body...! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Those weird insect larvae creep me out :lol: We caught hundreds of them while whitebaiting last year Yeah, definitely looks like dragonfly or damselfly larvae, something like that. I get them in my pond, took me a while to figure out what the apparently big thing making wakes in it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 possibly Nesameletus, mayfly larvae its presence shows the water parameters are good as it is fairly sensitive to pollutants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 possibly Nesameletus, mayfly larvae its presence shows the water parameters are good as it is fairly sensitive to pollutants The avon has good water? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 it used to when i lived in chch i know nothing of the quality of the water though we used to catch trout in there this is one of the inverts whose presence is used to determine water quality by councils etc around nz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 This is Stellas weird Harvestman. I have never seen one before, but I remember seeing pics of something like it, but I cant find any online. Anyone got any ideas? http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u255/ianab_photos/harvestman.jpg (big image) Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 try looking up Megalopsalis inconstans probably a female Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteS Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 The big larvae could possibly be Oniscigaster distans or O wakefieldi which is a mayfly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 The big larvae could possibly be Oniscigaster distans or O wakefieldi which is a mayfly. Quite likely, there was no shortage of mayflies attracted to our lights. Had them in our hair, up our noses etc. The water quality is pretty good, the river comes out of the national park, only flows through a few ks of farmland. It's fast flowing here and we saw lots of small trout fingerlings as well, so they must be breeding in there. The bullies seem to be doing OK in the tank, still a bit shy but I have them eating chopped up frozen shrimp. A pinch of that gets them out from under their rocks and and they chase it down quickly. Will get them some frozen bloodworms on Monday. Been doing the bottle of ice trick during the hottest part of the day and thats keeping the water temp down around 22C. They seem happy at that, active and eating anyway. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 try looking up Megalopsalis inconstans probably a female Still cant find much online, but from the description I think you are correct. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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