268 
The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
[Sept. 
EDIBLE FISHES OF WELLINGTON. 
By W. J. Phillipps, Dominion Museum. 
Introduction. 
In 1877, 1878, and 1879 P. Thomson* published three consecutive papers 
giving the results of his daily observations on the Dunedin fish-supply. On 
the advice of Dr. J. A. Thomson I have kept a similar record of the fish 
exposed for sale in Wellington during 1917-18, on which this paper is 
mainly based. The results need a closer analysis than those of Thomson, 
as the Wellington fish-supply is only partially ’ocal, being drawn in con¬ 
siderable part from Napier, the Chatham Islands, and the northern coasts 
of the South Island. 
Records of this kind are easily made, and have a distinct utility, which 
would be enormously increased if similar records were kept concurrently 
in all the fishing centres of the Dominion. We might then hope to add 
greatly to our limited knowledge of the migrations, spawning seasons, 
■ and habits of our chief food fishes. 
I wish to express my indebtedness to the officers of the Hawke's Bay 
Fisheries Company and the New Zealand Trawling and Fish-supply Com¬ 
pany, through whose never-failing courtesy I have at times been permitted 
to obtain much valuable information. 1 wish also to thank Mr. W. Mearns, 
who has in a most accurate manner kept daily records over a lengthened 
period when absence from the city or illness prevented my doing so. 
Groper, or Hapuku. Polyprion oxygeneios (Bloch and Schneider). 
This species is abundant in Wellington during the winter months, 
especially in the spawning season, during July and August. Hector| 
mentions that during the winter months the hapuku is seldom caught. 
ThomsonJ bears out Hector’s assertion. However, from close observation 
I have found that at present the contrary is the case, only small numbers 
of hapuku being in the market during the summer. During a several 
days’ cruise on the “ Nora Niven ” in Hawke Bay during December I 
noticed only three examples of this fish brought up in the trawl. One of 
the largest hapuku on record was caught recently off Cape Brett, and 
weighed 130 lb. Specimens weighing over 100 lb. are at times to be seen 
in Wellington. 
In pre-European times there were several famous hapuku-fishing rocks 
outside the Heads. These were always resorted to by the Maoris, and 
hence were given proper names. Latterly, however, the inshore stock of 
hapuku has disappeared, and the pakeha fisherman has to resort to deeper 
water. This is perhaps due to the hapuku becoming wary on account of 
the traffic near the shore, or to the constant thinning-out of its numbers. 
There is a general idea prevalent among fishermen that the quantities of 
this species around our coasts are being rapidly depleted. 
* P. Thomson, Fish and their Seasons, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 9, pp. 484-90, 1877 ; 
The Dunedin Fish-supply, ibid., vol. 10, pp. 324-30, 1878; Our Fish-supply, ibid., 
vol. 11, pp. 380-86, 1879! 
f J. Hector, Notes on the Edible Fishes of New Zealand, p. 102, 1872. 
X P. Thomson, loc. cit., p. 326, 1878. 
