INTRODUCTION OF AMERICAN FISHES INTO NEW ZEALAND. 



By L. F. AYSON, 



Chiej Inspector of Fisheries jor New Zealand. 



At the commencement it is, I think, appropriate to say something about 

 the geographical position and physical features of this little country in the 

 far away South Pacific, which is doing much valuable work for its people by 

 the introduction into its waters of a number of the best sport and commer- 

 cial fishes from the Northern Hemisphere. 



New Zealand, situated between latitudes 34 and 47 degrees south, in the 

 Pacific Ocean, consists of three main islands, the total area of which is about 

 104,000 square miles. A large extent of the country is mountainous, par- 

 ticularly in the Middle Island, which is intersected along almost its entire 

 length (about 500 miles) by a range of mountains known as the Southern 

 Alps, the highest peak. Mount Cook (the Maori or native name is "Aorangi," 

 meaning "cloud piercer"), being 12,400 feet. The summer snow line on these 

 mountains is about 7,000 feet above sea level. 



As would be expected from a country with such physical characteristics. 

 New Zealand possesses a very fine system of rivers and lakes. In the South 

 Island the larger rivers all originate among snow-clad mountains of hard rock 

 formations; in a good many instances their tributaries flow into mountain 

 lakes and from there down through the low country into the sea. Over 20 

 rivers, taking their rise among the glaciers of the Southern Alp range, flow 

 down into the Pacific Ocean on either coast. In parts of the North Island 

 the same formations prevail to a large extent, but many of the rivers run for 

 the greater length of their course through low country. 



This country, with its unique flora and fauna, has also the extraordinary 

 peculiarity that with its magnificent water system it has no indigenous fresh- 

 water fishes of any sporting or commercial value. Eels {Anguilla australis) 

 are found everywhere, also a few inferior fishes, such as the kokopu {Galaxias 

 fasciatus); but the only representative of the Salmonidse is the little smelt 

 {Retropinna richardsoni) and the native grayUng (Prototroctes oxyrhynchus) , 



B. n. F. 1908— pt 2—19 969 



