124 EDIBLE FISHES. 



the mistake of placing it in the only gemis of Sahuonoid fishes theu 

 known to occtir iia New Zealand, and which is not foxmd elsewhere 

 (Betrojnnna). * With reference to the Australian congener of the 

 Upokororo, Professor McCoy remarks, " the Yarra Yarra, and some 

 other of the rivers near the southern coast, contain in great abundance 

 a beautiful and active fish, excellent for the table, and afibi-ding capital 

 sport to the angler. By ichthyologists follo"sving the classification of 

 Cuvier, it would be referred to the Salmonidce, the adi])ose second dorsal 

 fin being well marked, and so much does it resemble the Grayling in the 

 cucumber smell when caught, in general appearance, habits, mode of 

 rising to the fly, and playing, as well as in flavour, that anglers are in 

 the habit of calling it now the Australian Grayling. Its close resem- 

 blance in food and habits to the true Salmonidce helped the Acclimati- 

 sation Society to argue that cei*tain of our rivers would serve for the 

 experiment of acclimatising the European Salmon and Trout, and as 

 experience has since shown successfully. It is vulgarly also called the 

 ' Yarra Herring,' and is the Prototroctes 7narcena." This description 

 applies to the New Zealand Upokororo, except that it does not possess 

 the " cucvimber smell," which, however, is as strongly marked in our 

 other and proper Salmonoid (Iietrojmma), as it is in the English Smelt 

 {Osmerus eperlanus). The Upokororo appears to inhabit clear running 

 streams in all parts of the colony, and I believe that the very large fish 

 locally called Trout, which are sometimes cast up on the beaches of the 

 great inland lakes of Otago, also belong to this species. These probably 

 i-each G or 8Ibs. in weight, but the usual size of this fish is under 1ft). 

 weight and from 10 to 12 inches in length, but I have seen no speci- 

 mens less than 7 inches. 



At certain seasons they assemble in the streams in immense shoals, 

 and the fact of tlieii- being often seen near the mouths of rivers has 

 given rise to the idea that the Upokororo is a sea-going fish that enters 

 the fresh water for the purpose of spawning. In my former account of 

 this fish I adopted this view, and quoted a statement to the same effect 

 by Ml'. W. T. L. Travers, F.L.S., but further inquiry leads me to think 

 that these fish aie constantly resident in the fresh water, and that their 

 annual migration does not extend beyond the commencement of the 

 brackish water. I find that Mi-. Travel's did not himself see these fish in 

 the salt water, and that the specimens he caught in the Maitai Stream 

 wei-e considerably above the limit of the tidal influence. The fishei-men 

 Trans. N. Z. Institute, Vol. Ill, p. 134. 



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