TELEOSTEI 255 



In 1885 the Hamilton Domain Board obtained 100,000 ova from 

 the Canterbury Board, and liberated the fry in the Waikato district. 



In 1887 the Taranaki Society obtained a number from Mr Johnson 

 of Opawa, and Mr W. W. Smith, writing from New Plymouth in 

 February, 1916, says: "They are common in the district; though 

 introduced many years ago, I have not seen any large specimens." 



Mr Jas. King informs me that they were also liberated in Lake 

 Mahinapua, on the west coast. 



Family Serranidje 

 Gippsland Perch (Percalates colonorum) 

 In 1868 Mr A. M. Johnson imported a number of these fish, and 

 kept them in his ponds in Opawa, Christchurch. 



Family Osphromenidje 



Paradise Fish {Polyacanthus opercularis) 



In 1908 Mr A. M. Johnson imported some of these aquarium 

 fish from Japan for his tanks at Opawa. 



Gourami {Osphromemis olfax) 

 In 1869 Captain Tobin of the 'Sea-Shell' attempted to bring a 

 number of these fish from Mauritius (where they have been acclima- 

 tised) for the Canterbury Society. They did not survive the voyage, 

 however. 



Family PLEURONECTIDiE 



Turbot (Psetta (Rhombtu) maxima) 



A successful attempt to introduce this species into New Zealand 

 was made in 1913. The shipment was made on behalf of the Govern- 

 ment and was under the care of the late Mr T. Anderton, curator 

 of the Portobello Marine Fish Hatchery, Dunedin^. 



^ The only previous attempt to carry live sea-fish across the equator to 

 southern waters appears to have been that of the New South Wales Fishery Depart- 

 ment in 1902, under the superintendency of the late Mr H. C. Damievig. On that 

 occasion 722 plaice, 28 black soles, four large turbot and four large brill were 

 shipped at Plymoutii on the 'Oroya' on 21st June. The turbot and the brill died 

 before the voyage was half accomplished, the last being taken out on nth July. 

 On arrival at Fremantle on 24th July, 581 plaice and 23 soles were alive. 

 The 'Oroya' reached Sydney on 2nd August, and the surviving fish (560 plaice 

 and 23 soles) were liberated in an enclosure at the Maianbar fish-farm in 

 Port Hocking, situated about one and a half miles inside the Heads. Owing to 

 inadequate preparation no suitable permanent enclosure for the fish was secured; 

 the result was that during the intense heat of summer the whole stock of plaice 

 died. Had the attendant in charge of the station opened the sluices and allowed 

 the fish to escape into deeper and cooler water, they might have kept together 

 and spawned at a later date, instead of being lost altogether. The soles appear to 

 have survived the first summer. 



