zealandia Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Yesterday I was walking along a waterway just a wee bit south of Oamaru, looking out for native fish and inverts. I spotted heaps of invertebrates, some bullies and some whitebait. I also saw a fish I couldn't identify. I have just been looking through Stella's book and once of McDowalls, have checked out the NIWA wesbite and I am still no closer to id-ing it. I wish I had had a camera on me! Anyway, over to you. It was swimming at the very top of the water, in a part of the river that had a gentle current. It was swimming alone and was nowhere near as nervous as the whitebait or bullies so I was able to get quite a close look. It most closely resembled a whitebait, but had a lot of black colouration on the head and back. It was about 5 or 6cm long. Your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 do you have rudd down that way? or it could have been a smelt? what was the body width? any other colour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 mullet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 mullet?grey mullet are very silver and are as (if not more) skittish than inanga, and are a waikato/bop north more or less Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zealandia Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 It was narrow like a whitebait. No other colour, just a lot of black pigmentation and the rest transparent. I am not aware of having rudd down here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 sounds like a sick kokopu or just one with a personality disorder the inanga and banded kokopu are not very shy around Tauranga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zealandia Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Thanks. I did wonder if it might be sick given it really wasn't that bothered by us getting close to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 just a possibility but it might have been a large female Leopard fish as well (hope not) Phalloceros caudomaculata. would probably be too fat to look like an inanga though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zealandia Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Just had a look at the Leopard fish, thankfully it wasn't like that! Looks like I will be taking another trip down there in the hopes of getting a photo- I would love to ID it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 take a net, easier to ID from the side only hoping its not a Leopard fish as I love them, breed them and if they established themselves somewhere we may lose them as a good option for small coldwater tanks (sick of seeing 5 goldfish in 20L tanks) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zealandia Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Fair enough! I shall take my net and see what happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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