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           THINGS LIVE IN SWAMPS                                                      

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           THINGS LIVE IN SWAMPS                                                      

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THAT AMAZING WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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Black swans are the bird kings of the wetland in New Zealand.                                                              

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By Annella-Jane Tully and Madeleine.

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Dragon fly's can be a different  colour then others

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Dragon fly's can be a different  colour then others

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it is wet

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bacteria is very dangerous

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fantails are a beautiful creature. the Māori name is piwakaka.

By Jax and Jupe

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Tui

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Eels migrate up streams as elvers to find suitable adult habitat. After many years they return to the Pacific Ocean to breed and die.

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Fish

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New Zealand's streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands support around 54 species of native fish including galaxiids, bullies, eels, lamprey, black flounder, torrentfish, smelt and mullet - and these are just the ones we know of that have been identified and classified! There are potentially 15 new galaxiid species that have been recently found in the South Island, but they are yet to be named.

The number of species of our native freshwater fish is small when compared with other countries, but our native freshwater fish are unique - 51 of the 54 species are only found here in New Zealand.

How aware are you of our native fish? When asked to name a freshwater fish, most people will first name exotics like trout and salmon.

This is partly because our native fish are seldom seen and are secretive. Most of them, except for the giant kōkopu, are small, camouflaged and live in remote areas. No fish lives in a more remote place than our rare Tarndale bully. The Tarndale Bully lives in only a handful of small subalpine tarns in the headwaters of the Clarence and Wairau Rivers in Marlborough.

Many are nocturnal, hiding under vegetation and overhangs before emerging from cover at night-time. It is not understood why this is. Some scientists suggest it was an adaptation to avoid predation by birds, but others argue that this does not make sense as large eels often hunt for small fish at night and so do swamp harriers (kāhu).

Native fish migration

A number of our native freshwater fish are diadromous, migrating between freshwater and the ocean. For some, this is connected with their life cycle, but for the majority, the movements between freshwater and saltwater are for feeding and growth rather than breeding. Adult fish that live in freshwater and migrate into saltwater to spawn, such as longfin eels, shortfin eels and inanga, are catadromous. Anadromous fish are adult fish that live in saltwater and migrate into freshwater to spawn, with their larvae and juveniles rearing in freshwater. Our only anadromous fish is the lamprey.

The Connected article The fish highway covers a scientist's discovery that banded kōkopu, kōaro and longfin eels adapted so they could use Wellington's stormwater system as access between streams and the sea.

Native fish conservation status and threats

Our native fish are also rare - many are threatened with extinction. Recent statistics in the New Zealand Government report Our Fresh Water 2017 shows that 72% of 39 native freshwater fish species - that are reported on - are either threatened with or at risk of extinction. About a third of native freshwater plants and invertebrates are also at risk.

One of our freshwater fish is already extinct - the grayling or upokororo ( Prototroctes oxyrhynchus). A few people believe that we might still find a living population somewhere. However, most agree that it is extinct, and in 1992, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre recorded it as extinct on the IUCN Red List.

Grayling numbers began to decline soon after Europeans arrived in New Zealand, and in 1930, the grayling was described as being on the verge of extinction. Why the grayling went extinct is not known, but the introduction of trout and widespread forest clearance that rapidly followed European settlement are thought to have contributed to their extinction.

Threats to our natives

One of the biggest issues for our freshwater fish has been loss of habitat such as the clearing of bush and forest that many species need for shelter and to support their food sources. Further, 90% of wetlands have been drained for farming and towns. This conversion of our land to farming, horticulture and other industries has resulted in barriers such as culverts and dams being added to waterways. With many of our fish being migratory, they need to be able to pass along waterways. These culverts and other structures have created barriers that many fish cannot pass and therefore they have restricted distributions, which adds to declining populations.

Pollution is also a problem as many native fish are vulnerable to poor water quality. Discharges into the water such as ammonia, heavy metals from stormwater run-off and waste products from industry and agriculture can affect fish. Sediment run-off is also an issue. The clearing of land and stream banks means that more sediment is now entering our waterways.

Fishing impacts our native fish populations. Talk to an elderly person in a river community and they'll likely be able to tell you stories of when native eels and whitebait were far more plentiful than they are today. Whitebait is a collective term used to describe the juvenile form of five galaxiid fish species. Whitebaiting is the seasonal fishing of these juvenile galaxiids.

In New Zealand, there are many regulations around fishing - such as restriction of fishing hours for whitebaiting. Longfin and shortfin eels have commercial catch limits. However, no native freshwater fish is protected by commercial or sport fishing regulations - other than the extinct grayling. In the Freshwater Fisheries Regulations 1983, the grayling was given total protection. If you want to go fishing for an exotic salmon or trout, you need to buy a licence, and there is a minimum fish size for these introduced species.

The introduction of predatory exotic fish also impacts native fish. Exotic fish compete for food and space and prey on native fish, their eggs and their young. Some exotics also contribute to water degradation.

Exotic fish

Around 20 species of freshwater exotic fish have been introduced into New Zealand.

In the early 1900s, early settlers introduced salmon and trout for sport and food. Other fish have been introduced by aquariums and pond fish like goldfish being released into waterways. They've rapidly colonised areas, in some places building up huge populations and becoming a major pest. Did you know 80% of the biomass of the Waikato waterways is koi carp?!

Exotic fish threaten native fish in a number of ways:

Koi carp uproot native aquatic plants and stir up sediment.

Catfish stir up sediment and eat native plants, snails and fish.

Tench, rudd, Gambusia (mosquitofish) and goldfish eat native insects, plants and fish, denying our native fish their food.

Gambusia are aggressive towards native freshwater fish, frequently nipping at their eyes and fins - our endangered galaxiids and mudfish are especially vulnerable. They have also been known to eat the eggs of native fish.

Trout, salmon and perch also eat a number of native fish species and can cause serious declines in population size and distribution.

What can we do?

Stop the spread of exotics:

Never, ever release unwanted aquarium plants or fish to waterways or tip them down the drain.

Wash your boat, trailer and fishing gear carefully after each trip to make sure they are free of weeds, fish and fish eggs before launching.

It is illegal to release any fish into a natural watercourse without a permit or to breed or sell pest fish.

There are also a number of actions we can take to help our native fish - learn about these in Stream works for fish, Native fish in the city, Healthy farms, healthy fish and Planning for change.

Useful links

Acknowledgement

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New Zealand's streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands support around 54 species of native fish including galaxiids, bullies, eels, lamprey, black flounder, torrentfish, smelt and mullet - and these are just the ones we know of that have been identified and classified!

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Some species such as whitebait are migratory, moving between fresh and sea water environments to complete their lifecycles. Non-migratory species such as mudfish spend their entire life in freshwater.

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skinks are small and fast crechers

femail skiniks lay eggs in the midil of june or may.

skinks can have 6-20 babes a yer

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Pūkeko is the New Zealand name for the purple swamphen (). There are many subspecies of purple swamphen. The subspecies found in New Zealand ( Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) is thought to have landed here around a thousand years ago from Australia.

Facts

Pūkeko are a member of the rail family of birds. They look very similar to takahē, although takahē are much heavier. Pūkeko are about 51 centimetres long with distinctive colourings; a deep blue colour, with a black head and upperparts, white feathers under their tail, and a red bill and legs.

Pūkeko are widespread and are as at home in pasture and farmland as they are in wetlands. They are commonly seen along marshy roadsides and low-lying open country.

Unlike many other native birds, the pūkeko has adapted well to new habitats, such as grassed paddocks, croplands and even city parks, a necessity brought about by disappearing wetlands. However, the pūkeko is essentially a bird of swampy ground, lagoons, reeds, rushes and swamps.

Although they're not great flyers, they are good waders, swimmers and runners.

They're mostly vegetarian, but also eat invertebrates, eggs, frogs, small fish, chicks and mammals, especially in breeding season where chicks are fed protein-rich animals.

Pūkeko are cooperative breeders, with multiple male and female birds often sharing a nest and responsibility for incubating eggs and rasing chicks. Pūkeko can be aggressive and territorial.

Pūkeko have white under-tail feathers

The pūkeko is well loved by many New Zealanders, winning Forest and Bird's Bird of the Year competition in 2011

Controlling numbers

Pūkeko are abundant and widespread and there is no threat to their long term existence.

They are listed as a game species and may be hunted under license during the duck shooting season.

Our work

Pūkeko are not threatened, so DOC doesn't actively work with them.

Of course, the work that DOC does in plant and animal pest control increases the quality of whole ecosystems, and therefore contributes to the ongoing success of many common birds like the pūkeko, as well as ensuring the ongoing survival of our rarer more susceptible species.

DOC prioritises its work to protect the rarer species, in the context of their overall environment. This is encapsulated in the whakatauki (Maori Proverb):

"Tiakina nga manu, ka ora te ngahere Ka ora te ngahere, ka ora nga manu"
"Look after the birds and the forest flourishes. If the forest flourishes, the birds flourish."

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The pūkeko is probably one of the most recognised native birds in New Zealand with its distinctive colourings and habit of feeding on the ground.

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frogs are jumpy and slimey

frogs can stay under water with out breathing for 5-7 hour with out coming up

ther are over 7500 diffrint spises of frog in the how world fors are fasenig creacher with all the coulers they have

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grass is green

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its a bird that makes a weird almost creepy sound.

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The white-faced heron is New Zealand's most common heron, despite being a relatively new arrival to this country. It is a tall, elegant, blue-grey bird that can be seen stalking its prey in almost any aquatic habitat, including damp pasture and playing fields. Because it occupies space also shared with people it is usually well habituated to their presence, and may allow close approach.
Identification
The white-faced heron is a medium-sized heron with primarily blue-grey plumage. As the name suggests it has white on the face and the front of its neck. The back is medium blue-grey with the chest and underside more brown-toned. In breeding plumage, white-faced herons have strap-like grey plumes on the back, and shorter pinkish brown plumes on the breast. The dagger-like bill is dark grey, dull yellow at the base, and the legs are pale yellow. In flight the white-faced heron usually tucks its head back towards its shoulders in the characteristic heron posture, but it will also fly with the neck out-stretched. Its open wings show contrast between the pale grey fore-wing and dark grey main flight feathers on both the upper and lower surfaces. Immature birds lack the white face.

Voice: a harsh croak, usually given in flight.

Similar species: the reef heron is similar in size but is much darker and uniform in colour and has a more hunched stance than the white-faced heron
Distribution and habitat
White-faced herons occur throughout Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. They are a relatively new species in New Zealand, having self-introduced in the 1940s. From the 1950s onwards numbers have grown rapidly and they are now widespread throughout the country, including the Chatham Islands. It is primarily a bird of rocky shores and estuary mudflats, but can also be found near the shallow edges of lakes up to 500 m altitude, and on farm ponds. Following rain, white-faced herons are often seen in damp pasture and on sports fields, including within urban areas.

White-faced herons have been recorded as vagrants at the Kermadec Islands, Snares Islands, Antipodes Island, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island.
Population
The white-faced heron is one of New Zealand's commonest large birds.
Breeding
White-faced herons are usually tree-top dwellers, favouring the tops of large pine trees or macrocarpa growing near water. They have also been known to nest on man-made structures. A loose platform is built where the 3-5 eggs are incubated by both parents. There is usually only one nest per tree, but some breed in loose colonies. In northern areas, nesting starts as early as June, but is later further south. Laying peaks around October. Incubation takes about 26 days. It is unusual for more than two chicks to be raised per brood.
Behaviour and ecology
Foraging white-faced herons walk slowly with long, controlled steps, watching for any signs of prey, which is grabbed with lightning speed. When white-faced herons occur at high densities, e.g. on mudflats, aggressive displays may be directed to other herons that approach too close. Roosting white-faced herons perch in trees or on top of man-made structures such as street lights. They roost solitarily or occasionally as pairs. During courtship and nesting, white-faced herons raise their plumes, and they may perform aerial displays near the nest.
Food
White-faced herons catch and consume a wide range of prey, including small fish, crabs, worms, insects, spiders, mice, lizards, tadpoles and frogs.
Websites BirdLife factsheet IUCN RedList http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/whitefacedheron.html References
Heather, B. D.; Robertson, H. A. 2005 The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking.

International Union for Conservation of Nature. IUCN red list of threatened species. http://www.iucnredlist.org (viewed 21 July 2012).

Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J. (eds.) 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol. 1, ratites to ducks. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Robertson, C.J.R. (ed.) 1985. Reader's Digest complete book of New Zealand birds. Reed Methuen, Sydney.
Recommended citation
Adams, R. 2013 [updated 2022]. White-faced heron | matuku moana. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz

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White-faced heron | Matuku moana | New Zealand Birds Online

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The white-faced heron is New Zealand's most common heron, despite being a relatively new arrival to this country. It is a tall, elegant, blue-grey bird that can be seen stalking its prey in almost any aquatic habitat, including damp pasture and playing fields.

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otters are fast swimmers and love eating fish.

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otters are fast swimmers and love eating fish.

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Longfin and shortfin eels are found throughout New Zealand’s wetlands. The shortfin eel is most common in lowland and coastal sites. Longfin eels travel further inland and may be found at higher altitude. by charlie and jayden

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Longfin and shortfin eels are found throughout New Zealand’s wetlands. The shortfin eel is most common in lowland and coastal sites. Longfin eels travel further inland and may be found at higher altitude. by charlie and jayden

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they are a endangered fish that are often found in rivers. even though they are endangered people still eat them.

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Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between 25 and 50 millimetres (1 and 2 in) long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along coasts, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught using fine-meshed fishing nets. Whitebaiting is the activity of catching whitebait.

Individual whitebait are tender and edible, and are considered a delicacy in New Zealand. The entire fish is eaten - including head, fins, bones, and bowels. Some species make better eating than others, and the particular species that are marketed as "whitebait" vary in different parts of the world.

As whitebait consists of immature fry of many important food species (such as herring, sprat, sardines, mackerel, bass and many others) it is not an ecologically viable foodstuff and several countries impose strict controls on harvesting.

The Alboran Sea is the westernmost element of the Mediterranean Sea. Whitebait have been consumed as a favoured element of the diet of peoples living along the northern coasts of the Alboran Sea in Spain, even though sale of these products has been banned.

In Australia whitebait refers to the juvenile stage of several predominantly galaxias species during their return to freshwater from the marine phase of their lifecycle.

Species referred to as whitebait in Australia include Common galaxias G. maculatus, Climbing galaxias G. brevipinnis, Spotted galaxias G. truttaceus, Tasmanian whitebait Lovettia sealii, Tasmanian mudfish Neochanna cleaveri, and Tasmanian smelt Retropinna tasmanica.

Whitebait were once subject to a substantial commercial fishery but today only recreational fishers are permitted to gather them, under strict conditions and for a limited season.

Chinese whitebait is raised in fish farms and plentiful quantities are produced for export. The Chinese whitebait is larger than the New Zealand whitebait and not nearly so delicate. The frozen product is commonly available in food stores and supermarkets at reasonable prices. The Chinese name for these is often translated as "silver fish" in English.

Gianchetti (also bianchetti) are the whitebait of the pesce azzurro of the Mediterranean ( sardines and anchovies, etc.), caught with special nets named from the Ligurian sciabegottu (similar to the net to sciabica, but with smaller dimensions) in the early months of the year.

A speciality of the Liguria cuisine, gianchetti are generally lightly boiled in salted water and served hot, dressed with oil and lemon juice. Another classic approach is to make fritters of the fish together with an egg and flour batter; finally they may simply be dipped in flour and deep fried ( Frittelle di Gianchetti/Bianchetti). The gianchetti of a red colour ( ruscetti, rossetti) are tougher and scaly to the palate: they are largely used to flavour fish-based sauces.

In Sicilian cuisine whitebait are known as ceruses (literally translated as "baby"). Whitebait are the principal ingredient of the Sicilian specialty croquette polpette di neonata; which are a type of rolled meatball of whitebait with parsley, and egg and/or a bit of flour to amalgamate, fried in olive oil or sometimes deep-fried in peanut oil.

In Neapolitan cuisine whitebait are known as cicenielli.

In Brindisian cuisine whitebait are known as chuma (literally foam of sea).

Japanese whitebait

In Japan, the whitebait fishing industry is concentrated in Shizuoka Prefecture, where the major landing ports for them are situated. The shirasu boiled in salted hot water is called kamaage shirasu (, boiled whitebait), and this product retains about 85% or greater water ratio.

The boiled whitefish which are subsequently semi-dried are referred to generally as shirasuboshi (, literally 'dried whitebait'), but this is in the wider sense of the term; in the stricter sense shirasuboshi (aka Kantō boshi, or 'Eastern Japan style dried') refers to soft-dried products (50-85% water ratio), and distinguished from chirimen-jako (aka Kansai boshi or 'Western Japan style dried') which are dried to harder consistency (30% to shy of 50% water content.)

The whitebait used in these shirasu products is generally the larvae of the Japanese anchovy, but in the vernacular Japanese language anchovy is called a type of sardine, thus shirasu may be (somewhat misleadingly) described as sardine fry in some literature, though the larvae of clupeids do occur as bycatch in the shirasu being harvested. The shirasu landed in Shizuoka Prefecture consists of the 2-3 month old, and 1-2 cm length larvae of mostly Japanese anchovy, and a small proportion of Japanese pilchard, Sardinops sagax melanostictus, a subspecies of sardine.

One specialty product is the tatami iwashi (, literally 'tatami sardine'), a paper-thin square wafer made from uncooked dry shirasu, spreading the washed fish thinly inside square molds then drying them, which has become a pricey delicacy.

Whitebait net set alongside a flood-control bank in New Zealand

New Zealand whitebait are the juveniles of five galaxiid species which live as adults in freshwater rivers and streams. Four of these five species have been classified by the Department of Conservation as endangered. The whitebait are caught during their migration into freshwater habitats after their larval stage at sea. They are much smaller than Chinese or British whitebait, averaging 45-55 mm in length and are around 15-22 weeks old.

Freshly-caught whitebait in a bucket, Ōkārito, West Coast, New Zealand

The most common whitebait species in New Zealand is the common galaxias or īnanga, which lays its eggs during the very high spring tides in autumn amongst bankside grasses that are flooded by the tide. The eggs develop out of the water until inundated by the next spring tide which stimulates the eggs to hatch. The larvae are then carried to sea on the outgoing tide where they join the ocean's plankton. After approximately six months, the juvenile fish migrate back into freshwater habitats where they mature to adulthood. The four other galaxiid species in New Zealand whitebait are the kōaro, banded kōkopu, giant kōkopu and shortjaw kōkopu. These species also spawn in bankside vegetation, but their spawning is triggered by autumn floods rather than tides.

New Zealand whitebait are caught in the lower reaches of the rivers using large, open-mouthed, hand-held scoop nets, long sock nets, or rigid, typically wedge-shaped set nets. Whitebaiters must constantly attend the nets in order to lift them as soon as a shoal enters the net, otherwise the whitebait quickly swim back out of the net. Whitebaiters may fish from platforms known as a 'stand', which may include screens to direct the fish and systems for raising and lowering nets.

Whitebaiting in New Zealand is a seasonal activity with a legally fixed and limited period which spans part of the annual migration. The timing of the allowed fishing season is set to target the more common inanga, while avoiding the less common species that mainly migrate before and after the whitebaiting season. There is strict control over net sizes and rules against blocking the river or channelling the fish into the net to allow some fish to reach the adult habitats. The whitebait themselves are very sensitive to objects in the river and are adept at dodging the nets.

New Zealand whitebait fritters

Whitebait is a traditional food for Māori, and was widely eaten by European settlers in the 19th Century. By the 20th Century, the price of whitebait rose and it became known as a delicacy. Currently, it commands high prices to the extent that it is the most expensive fish on the market, when available. The wholesale price ( NZD) is typically $60-$70 per kilogram ($27-$32/lb), but the retail price can be up to $140 per kilogram ($64/lb). It is normally sold fresh in small quantities, although some are frozen to extend the sale period. Nevertheless, whitebait can normally only be purchased during or close after the netting season. The most popular way of cooking whitebait in New Zealand is the whitebait fritter, which is essentially an omelette containing whitebait. Purists use only the egg white in order to minimise interfering with the taste of the bait.[citation needed ]

The degradation of waterways through forest clearance, and the impacts of agriculture and urbanisation, have caused the whitebait catch to decline. The loss of suitable spawning habitat has been particularly severe, especially for inanga, which rely on dense riparian vegetation lining the tidal portions of waterways. Amongst other factors, a lack of shade over waterways has been shown to kill developing whitebait eggs.

British whitebait are much larger than New Zealand whitebait

In the United Kingdom today, whitebait principally refers to the fry of Clupeidae fish, young sprats, most commonly herring. They are normally deep-fried, coated in flour or a light batter, and served very hot with sprinkled lemon juice and bread and butter. Whitebait are very hard to buy fresh unless the buyer goes to a fishing harbour early in the morning, as most are frozen on the boat.

Records of whitebait as a food in England date back to 1612. By the 1780s it was fashionable to dine on whitebait. In those days, whitebait was thought to be a species or group on its own right, and the French zoologist Valenciennes proposed that whitebait was a new genus, which he called Rogenia. In 1903, Dr James Murie, in his 'Report on the sea fisheries and fishing industry of the Thames estuary' conducted studies on the contents of boxes sold as whitebait. He discovered that some boxes of whitebait contained up to 31 species of immature fish, including the fry of eel, plaice, whiting, herring sprat and bass, along with shrimp, crab, octopus and even jellyfish.

For Londoners in the 19th century and before, summer excursions down the Thames to Greenwich or Blackwall to dine on whitebait were popular. For instance, the Cabinet undertook such a trip every year shortly before the prorogation of Parliament. An annual whitebait festival takes place in Southend.

Residents of Arecibo, Puerto Rico traditionally fish for whitebait at the mouth of the Río Grande de Arecibo. The fish are known locally as cetí and classified as Pellona bleekeriana or Sicydium plumieri.

Elvers are young eels. Traditionally, fishermen consumed elvers as a cheap dish, but environmental changes have reduced eel populations. Similar to whitebait, they are now considered a delicacy and are priced at up to 1 000 euros per kilogram.

Cuttlefish, octopus and squid

Puntillitas, small whole fried squid, a popular Spanish tapas

Battered and fried baby cephalopods (usually cuttlefish, but sometimes squid or octopus), known as puntillitas or chopitos, are popular in southern Spain and the Balearic Islands and possibly elsewhere.[citation needed ]

1. ^ "Iconic Kiwi 'Fritters' Contain Handfuls of Tiny, Hard-to-Catch Fish". Limited riverbank real estate and a small seasonal window for fishing only add to whitebait's status as a delicacy.

2. C.Michael Hogan. 2011. ^ Alboran Sea. eds. P.Saundry & C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC

3. ^ pesce azzurro ("blue fish") is a term used in Italian cuisine to refer to a range of Mediterranean species (including anchovies, garfish, mackerel, sardines, sprats, swordfish and tuna) which generally have blue or blue-green coloured backs and silvery bellies.[1]

4. Nii, Yoshitaka; Fukuta, Kazuhiro; Kiyokage, Ryoko; Sakai, Kentaro; Yamamoto, Shigeru (1997), "Shirasuboshi karushūmu no kayōsei ni oyobosu kankitsu kajū no eikyō: in vitro de no kentō" しらす干しカルシウムの可溶化に及ぼす柑橘果汁の影響―in vitroでの検討 [In vitro Effects of Citrus Fruit Juices on Solubilization of Calcium from Shirasuboshi (Boiled and Semi-dried Whitebaits)], J. Jpn. Soc. Nutr. Food Sci., 50 (6): 439-443, doi:10.4327/jsnfs.50.439 ; text@Google (abstract in English).

5. ^ Iwasa, Takahiro (1994), "Chirimenjako seibun no seizō jiki ni yoru henka" 4)ちりめんじゃこ成分の製造時期による変化 (PDF), FY Heisei 6 Activity Report 平成6年度事業報告, Hyogo Prefectural Tajima Fisheries Experimental Station, pp. 96-98

6. ^ Nagasaki, Fukuzō; Chikuni, Shirō (1989), Management of Multispecies Resources and Multi-gear Fisheries, United Nations Food & Agriculture Org., p. 29, ISBN 9789251028483

7. Tsuji, Shoko; Aoyama, Tsuneo; Kiyokage (July 1984), "Daily growth increments in otoliths from of Japanese Anchovy Larvae Engraulis japonica" カタクチイワシ仔魚の耳石にみられる日輪構造 (PDF), Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Scientific Fisheries, 50 (7): 1105-1108, doi:10.2331/suisan.50.1105, ISSN 0021-5392; text@Google (abstract in English).

8. "Shirasu no miwake-kata" シラスの見分け方 [How to distinguish shirasu]. Shizuoka Prefectural Research Institute of Fishery and Ocean.

9. ^ McDowall, R.M. (1984). The New Zealand Whitebait Book. Wellington, New Zealand: Reed. ISBN 0-589-01533-8.

10. ^ Goodman, Jane M.; Allibone, Richard M.; Closs, Gerard P.; Crow, Shannan K.; David, Bruno O.; Dunn, Nicholas R.; Griffiths, Marc; Jack, Daniel C.; Ling, Nicholas (2017-01-01). "Conservation status of New Zealand freshwater fishes". New Zealand Threat Classification System. 24: 1-15.

11. ^ McDowall, R.M.; Mitchell, C.P.; Brothers, E.B. (1994). "Age at migration from the sea of juvenile galaxias in New Zealand (Pisces, Galaxiidae)". Bulletin of Marine Science. 54 (2).

12. ^ Whitebait and whitebaiting - Whitebait in New Zealand Carl Walrond in Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 1 March 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2011.

13. ^ Vennell, Robert (5 October 2022). Secrets of the Sea: The Story of New Zealand's Native Sea Creatures. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. pp. 48-53. ISBN 978-1-77554-179-0. Wikidata Q114871191.

14. Richardson, J.; Taylor, M.J. (2002). A guide to restoring inanga habitat. NIWA Science and Technology Series No. 50 (PDF). Wellington: NIWA. ISBN 978-0-478-23255-4.

15. ^ Hickford, Michael; Schiel, David (2011). "Synergistic interactions within disturbed habitats between temperature, relative humidity and UVB radiation on egg survival in a diadromous fish". PLOS ONE. 6 (9): e24318. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...624318H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024318. PMC . PMID 21931680.

16. Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh and Fisher, Nick (2007) The River Cottage Fish Book pp. 423-425, Bloomsbury Publishing .ISBN 9780747588696.

17. ^ Murie, James (1903). Report on the sea fisheries and fishing industries on the Thames Estuary. London: Waterlow Bros. & Layton, Ltd. pp. 88f.

18. ^ Erdman, Donald S. (1961-07-01). "Notes on the Biology of the Gobiid Fish Sicydium plumieri in Puerto Rico". Bulletin of Marine Science. 11 (3): 448-456.

Ikematsu, Masato (January 1986), "Shizuoka-ken ni okeru shirasu-gyogyō no seisan to kakōhin shukka ni kansuru kenkyū" 静岡県におけるシラス漁業の生産と加工品出荷に関する研究 [Studies on the Production and on the Shipment of Processed Products in the Shirasu (larval anchovy) Fishery of Shizuoka Prefect] (PDF), Journal of the Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University (22): 171-185; text@Google (abstract in English).

Umino, Miki (2014), "Mochimune no shirasu kakō: kakō gaisha no kodawari" 用宗のシラス加工 : 加工会社のこだわり, Mochimune District, Shizuoka (Fieldwork hands-on training study report) (in Japanese), Shizuoka University: 20-28

Kurogi, Ryūichi (2014), "Shirasuboshi" しらす干し (PDF), Shokuhin to Yōki: Food and Packaging (in Japanese), Kangiken, 55 (10): 606-614

Sakata, Yukiko (1989), "Shihan shirasuboshi no hinshitsu chōsa" 市販しらす干しの品質調査 [Survey on the quality of "Shirasuboshi" boiled and semidried juvenile fish of Japanese anchovy on the market], Journal of Home Economics of Japan (in Japanese), 40 (5): 335-339

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Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between 25 and 50 millimetres (1 and 2 in) long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along coasts, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught using fine-meshed fishing nets.

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Wetlands are important ecosystems for their biodiversity, cultural, and recreational values as well as their key role in carbon storage. However, wetlands are also ecosystems under threat. In New Zealand, wetlands have declined by ~90% over the past 750 years from around 10% to just ~1% of the total land area owing to fires, nutrient runoff from agricultural land and drainage, as well as weed invasion and climate change. Ongoing losses of wetland area are comparable to global averages of around 0.5% per year.

Current biodiversity monitoring in wetlands tends to focus on large organisms such as birds and plants, which can be relatively slow to respond to environmental change. However, lead author of the new study, Dr Jamie Wood of Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, says "the strength of eDNA is that it allows us to monitor key microbial groups (bacteria and archaea), which may respond faster to environmental change, and also drive important biogeochemical processes in wetlands".

The researchers sequenced microbial DNA from soil cores taken down to 4 metres below the surface in seven New Zealand wetlands, in one of the few studies globally to have studied wetland microbes at such depths. "The results showed distinct changes in microbial communities as we went deeper", co-author Dr Olivia Burge of Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research said, "For example, archaea became more common with increasing depth, and the proportions of different bacterial groups changed as well".

To better understand what these changes actually meant for ecological and biochemical processes occurring in the wetlands, the researchers assessed the metabolic functions of the different microbes detected by the eDNA. Then, to see how declining wetland condition might affect these processes, they compared three similar wetlands with different degrees of human modification.

As a wetland is drained for agriculture, increased oxidation of the peat leads to more carbon dioxide emission. This is a process driven by microbes, and the researchers saw an increase in the types of microbes responsible for this process in the upper layers of the more modified wetlands. "An unexpected finding was that the effects of drainage also appeared at greater depths, below the water table, where the relative proportion of microbes responsible for carbon fixation and methane generation decreased", Wood reported.

Study co-author Beverley Clarkson highlighted the potential implications of this new approach. "We need to study more wetlands to refine this tool and see whether these patterns hold across different wetland types, but these preliminary results show that the technique works. Ultimately eDNA may provide a useful tool for monitoring real-time wetland condition and identifying when critical thresholds are being approached. In the same way, eDNA may also serve as a tool for helping monitor the success of projects focused on the restoration of wetland ecosystems."

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Microbes in our wetlands - a new use for environmental DNA

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A new study has shown that eDNA may prove a valuable tool for monitoring biological change in wetlands.

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New Zealand’s five species of mudfish (Neochanna) are specialised for life in wetlands and pools that dry up in summer. During droughts they burrow into the mud, and survive curled up in the damp sediment. They remain there for weeks until the rains arrive and their pools fill with water again.

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New Zealand’s five species of mudfish (Neochanna) are specialised for life in wetlands and pools that dry up in summer. During droughts they burrow into the mud, and survive curled up in the damp sediment. They remain there for weeks until the rains arrive and their pools fill with water again.

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The Brown teal/pāteke is a small dabbling duck endemic to New Zealand historically distributed throughout the lowland freshwater wetlands

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The Brown teal/pāteke is a small dabbling duck endemic to New Zealand historically distributed throughout the lowland freshwater wetlands

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Common whitebait (Galaxias) species of wetlands include īnanga and the giant kōkopu. The rare gollum galaxias inhabits swamps and shallow lakes of Stewart Island and Southland, and in the Catlins and the Nevis River in Otago.

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Common whitebait (Galaxias) species of wetlands include īnanga and the giant kōkopu. The rare gollum galaxias inhabits swamps and shallow lakes of Stewart Island and Southland, and in the Catlins and the Nevis River in Otago.

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Matuku have long legs, long necks and there are not very many left in the wild

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in wetlands there are fish

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 skinks are cold blooded and are very fast .

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 skinks are cold blooded and are very fast .

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Whitebait

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possum

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Dragonfly have been flying in our wetlands for over 300 Million years and are an important part of our wetlands

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Dragonflies have been zooming around our skies with aerobatic precision for more than 300 million years, while their mud-dwelling larvae are capable of shooting water out of their backsides for a turbo assist - no wonder these precision flying machines so delight Scottish dragonfly enthusiast Ruary Mackenzie Dodds.

When it comes to dragonflies, it would be fair to say that Ruary Mackenzie Dodds is an enthusiastic obsessive.

He is impressed with their flying skills, their superb eyesight and hunting skills - and he says they are an excellent indicator of good water quality.

Dragonflies date back 320 million years. About 270 million years ago, the group split into the true dragonflies and the damselflies.

"They really are very, very ancient creature," says Ruary.

Dragonflies belong to the insect order Odonata. "This means 'toothed ones' in Greek," says Ruary. "Obviously they don't have teeth, but they do have amazing gnashers for consuming their food."
Life underwater
Typical dragonfly larvae spend the first two to three years of their lives underwater, before they metamorphose into a flying adult. "It's an amazing thing to watch," says Ruary, "when they pull themselves out of their final larval skin and transform themselves into these beautiful flying insects."

The stocky larvae look nothing like an adult dragonfly. Ruary says that they feed using "an amazing labial mask. It's as if you have taken your arm off and stuck it on your lower lip. This thing is very neatly folded up under their body, and when it goes into the attack - when it decides its lunchtime and a mosquito larva is passing for example - this thing will extend itself nearly half the length of the insect and grab the mosquito to bring it back to these amazing gnashers."

It should be noted that dragonfly larvae are also known as toe-biters, and are quite capable of giving an unwary human foot a good nip.

Ruary says that larvae from some species bury themselves in mud and wait for prey to pass, while others are active hunters. He says they have excellent eyesight to help them find prey.

A particularly interesting feature of dragonfly larvae is that "they have rectal gills and breathe through their backside," says Ruary.

"And they can suck water into their backsides and then blast it out again and go hurtling through the water like a torpedo to get to their prey - or to get away from you if you try and catch them."
Life in a burrow
The larvae of New Zealand's giant bush and giant mountain dragonflies, on the other hand, are not aquatic. They live in tunnels that they excavate on the forest floor, and it takes more than five years for them to develop and emerge as adults.

A female chooses a damp gully where she lays her eggs in the soil. As the larvae grow and develop they enlarge their burrow to a diameter of about three centimetres, often building a raised wall around the lip.
Dragonfly watching
The edges of wetlands are good places to see dragonflies and damselflies. Ruary says they like shallow water, with a rich mix of vegetation, including rushes and aquatic weeds.

The warm months of summer to mid-autumn are peak times for seeing dragonflies in flight.

Ruary says the trick to spotting dragonflies is patience. His advice is to stake out a likely location, then watch and wait.
The 'jizz' of dragonfly watching
'Jizz' is a term that describes an observer's ability to identify an animal at a glance, from a combination of its general features, such as size and shape, as well as behaviours such as distinctive styles of flying.

For dragonflies, this might include size, colour, noise and flying behaviours. For example, Ruary describes the noisy blundering of a bush giant dragonfly, while "a male lancer dragonfly zooms up and down [the edge of a wetland], darting in and out of the rushes, setting up a territory, waiting for the females to arrive."

Damselflies are more slender and delicate than the dragonflies, and they often flit from plant to plant.
Fascinating flight fact
Dragonflies are fast fliers with exceptional acceleration - Ruary says that from a standing start they can cover 15 metres in less than second.
How many dragonflies?
New Zealand has six species of damselflies and eight species of commonly observed dragonflies. A further four species have either arrived here very recently or are rare visitors.

Worldwide there are about 5,000 to 6,000 species of dragonflies.
Damselflies on Our Changing World
Find out about the fast and slow lifestyles of damselflies.

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Dragonflies are precision flying machines, and Ruary Mackenzie Dodds says they are an indicator of clean water.

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Frogs are a slimy creature they usually live in swamps.

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They are blue feisty creatures.

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WATER IS BLUE LIKE THE SKY

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A small long-tailed songbird that is predominantly streaked brown above and pale below, with loosely-barbed plain brown tail.

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More often heard than seen, fernbirds are skulking sparrow-sized, well-camouflaged birds that on the three main islands are found mainly in dense, low wetland vegetation. They have disappeared from large areas of New Zealand, including Wairarapa, Wellington and Canterbury, but remain common on the West Coast and in pockets of suitable habitat from Northland to Stewart Island. Fernbirds occupy drier shrubland and tussock habitat at a few sites, including in the Far North and on some islands.

The only other member of this genus in New Zealand was the extinct Chatham Island fernbird P. rufescens. Both were previously placed in the endemic genus Bowdleria; however, genetic analyses revealed them to be closely related to the spinifexbird Poodytes carteri (from Australia) and two grassbird species from Australia and New Guinea.
Identification
Small, long-tailed songbirds that are predominantly streaked brown above and pale below. The mainland subspecies have a chestnut cap and a prominent pale superciliary stripe. The loosely-barbed plain brown tail feathers have a distinctive tattered appearance.

Voice: a characteristic 'u-tick' given as a duet by members of a pair.

Similar species: the only other skulking passerine found in dense vegetation is the introduced dunnock, which is smaller, and has darker underparts and a shorter tail.
Distribution and habitat
Widely if patchily distributed in dense wetland vegetation throughout New Zealand; absent from the southern North Island (apart from Waikanae Estuary) and Canterbury. Locally common in dry shrubland near North Cape, tussock-covered frost flats up to 1000 m altitude in Tongariro and Kahurangi National Parks, pakihi vegetation on the West Coast, and reedbeds growing in saltmarshes in the West Coast, Otago and Southland. Occurs in dense kiekie on the Open Bay Islands (off Haast), and in tussock grassland and under low tree-daisy ( Olearia) forest and kokomuka ( Hebe elliptica) shrubland on muttonbird islands and the Snares Islands. Common on Great Barrier Island, formerly present on Great King Island (Three Kings Islands) and Aldermen Islands, introduced to Tiritiri Matangi Island; otherwise absent from islands off North Island, in Marlborough Sounds and in Fiordland.
Population
Locally common in suitable habitat; few population estimates. About 1500 pairs estimated on Snares Islands (8 pairs/ha); 2.4 pairs/ha near Whangarei; 3 birds/ha at Tiropahi, West Coast; 1.89 birds per 5-min count on Great Barrier Island.
Threats and conservation
Many local populations have been lost due to drainage of wetlands and conversion to pasture, combined with predation by introduced mammals. Several populations on muttonbird islands were extirpated by introduced ship rats (Solomon, Pukeweka and Big South Cape Islands) and weka (Kundy and Jacky Lee Islands).

Fernbirds died out on Great King and Aldermen Islands, probably due to vegetation succession. A few island populations have been established or re-established by translocation, e.g. North Island fernbirds to Tiritiri Matangi Island, Stewart Island fernbirds to Kundy Island, and Codfish Island fernbirds to Putauhinu Island.
Breeding
Spring and summer breeding. A deep, woven, feather-lined cup of fine grass or sedge leaves in dense vegetation, usually less than 1 metre above ground or water. Clutch size typically 2 on islands and 3-4 on mainland. Both members of the pair incubate the eggs and care for the young.
Behaviour and ecology
Fernbirds are poor fliers; they typically scramble through dense vegetation, though occasionally fly short distances with their tail hanging down, just above the vegetation. Although difficult to observe due to the dense habitat they occupy, fernbirds often approach observers closely, especially in response to mimicked calls. Pairs keep in contact with duet calls. On southern islands, fernbirds forage frequently among leaf litter, holding up leaves with one foot while inspecting the underside, and they occasionally enter seabird burrows. They also catch blowflies on sleeping sea lions (Snares Islands). Fernbirds have a gamey smell which makes them irresistible to dogs trained for game hunting or as conservation dogs. Oldest known bird 6.5 years. No banded birds have moved more than 800 m, but fernbirds occasionally turn up at sites tens of kilometres from known populations.
Food
Insects (especially caterpillars, flies, beetles and moths), spiders and other small invertebrates. Occasionally seeds and fruit; one record of a skink.
Weblinks BirdLife factsheet References
Alström, P.; Cibois, A.; Irestedt, M.; Zuccon, D.; Gelang, M.; Fjeldså, J.; Andersen, M.J.; Moyle, R.G.; Pasquet, E.; Olsson, U. 2018. Comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the grassbirds and allies (Locustellidae) reveals extensive non-monophyly of traditional genera, and a proposal for a new classification. Mo lecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 127: 367-375.

Best, H.A. 1979. Food and foraging of the Snares fernbird. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 6: 481-488.

Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 1996. The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Viking, Auckland.

Higgins, P.J.; Peter, J.M.; Cowling, S.J. (Eds.) 2006. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol. 7. Boatbill to Starlings; Part B Dunnock to Starlings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Miskelly, C.M.; Sagar, P.M.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Scofield, R.P. 2001. Birds of the Snares Islands, New Zealand. Notornis 48: 1-40.
Recommended citation
Miskelly, C.M. 2013 [updated 2022]. Fernbird | mātātā. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz

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Fernbird | Mātātā | New Zealand Birds Online

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More often heard than seen, fernbirds are skulking sparrow-sized, well-camouflaged birds that on the three main islands are found mainly in dense, low wetland vegetation. They have disappeared from large areas of New Zealand, including Wairarapa, Wellington and Canterbury, but remain common on the West Coast and in pockets of suitable habitat from Northland to Stewart Island.

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toitoi have purple or creamy white feather-like fluffy parts on top

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The dabchick has a patchy distribution in the North Island from Northland to Wairarapa. Most birds inhabit freshwater lakes and ponds.

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Grebes are small to medium-sized aquatic diving birds that use large, powerful lobed feet set far back on their body to propel and steer themselves in water. They have relatively long necks and are notable for their submarine-like ability to change their buoyancy. The New Zealand dabchick occurs on small lakes and sheltered inlets on larger lakes from Northland to the north of the South Island. Formerly widespread in the South Island it declined through the 1800s and 1900s until becoming extinct there as a breeding species in 1941. The reasons for this are not fully understood, although predation by introduced predators is likely to have been a factor. In 2012, a pair was recorded breeding near Takaka at the top of the South Island.

Identification

A relatively small, brown-black grebe distinguished by dark glossy head streaked with swept-back fine silvery feathers and prominent yellow eyes. In breeding plumage the front of the neck and breast are rich rufous red. The rest of the rotund body has dark brown-black upperparts and paler underparts with white underfeathers. The tail is little more than a tuft of black silky feathers a few centimetres long. Adults are paler in non-breeding plumage. The eyes are yellow, and the thick olive-grey legs have yellow on the inner side and edges of the feet. The short black bill tapers to a point. Sexes alike. Chicks hatch with irregular heavy black-brown horizontal striped markings on a white background, and a bright red bill with black markings. Juveniles retain striped markings on the head and neck until adult plumage develops; bill becomes black with age.

Voice: adults give short chattering calls during breeding season and occasionally when alarmed.

Similar species: similar sized hoary-headed grebe has generally lighter plumage and less rufous colouring. Markedly smaller Australasian little grebe has black neck, rufous facial feathering and small pale yellow gape-patch at the base of the bill.
Distribution and habitat
The dabchick has a patchy distribution in the North Island from Northland to Wairarapa. Most birds inhabit freshwater lakes and ponds on the volcanic plateau, Rotorua Lakes area, Northland, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa. Formerly widespread in the South Island, it declined through the 1800s and 1900s until becoming extinct there as a breeding species in the 1940s. In 2012, a pair began breeding near Takaka in the north-west of the South Island, and a pair bred near Blenheim in 2015. A few birds have subsequently been recorded from numerous sites between Marlborough and Lake Forsyth, Canterbury. Breeding birds favour shallow waters with dense vegetation on small freshwater lakes and pools, sand-dune lakes and lagoons, and larger inland lakes with shallow, sheltered inlets up to the size of Lake Taupo, from sea level to 740 m altitude. Non-breeding birds flock on more open freshwater bodies.
Population
Estimated at 1,900-2,000 individuals.
Threats and conservation
The small fragmented population is probably declining due to continued threats. Reasons for the decline are not fully understood, but predation by introduced predators is likely to have been a factor along with declining water quality, loss of natural habitat and increased disturbance. Extensive and widespread wetland drainage in the past reduced the availability of suitable natural habitat, although since 1940s more artificial habitat has become available such as farm dams and stock water supplies. Nests on lakes are vulnerable to increased disturbance by boats, jet-skiers and water-skiers.
Breeding
Breeds year round. Territorial displays begin June-July with egg-laying mainly during August-February. Solitary pairs nest on freshwater lakes and pools, anchoring the nest to aquatic vegetation or building it in a small cave, partially underwater. The nest is a loose pile of aquatic vegetation up to 1 m deep from lake bed to water surface. Elaborate courtship involves preening, rearing, head-turning and -shaking, and ritualised displays of diving and pattering. Monogamous; 2-3 bluish eggs laid August-March, staining brown in nest. Incubation takes 22-23 days, and chick-rearing about 70 days, with both parents assisting. Chicks ride on parents' backs for the first week and much of the subsequent two weeks until they become too big to carry by the fourth week. Juvenile continues to be fed by parental birds until c.70 days. Second nestings recorded.
Behaviour and ecology
Like other grebes, the New Zealand dabchick has a submarine-like ability to change its buoyancy, which it does by adjusting the angle at which its dense waterproof feathers are held against the body. Aggressive territorial behaviour directed at intruders includes the head being lowered forward, neck and back arched, half-raising of wings, and short rushes or low pattering flights towards the intruding bird. Appeasement display includes head-bobbing up and down, side to side, or back and forth, with diving as a last resort to escape. Uses "stern-on" posture that involves raising of the rear-end and fluffing up of rump feathers to display a white 'owl-face' pattern on each side of the tail feathers. This is thought to be a territorial advertisement that may also convey mild alarm in the presence of a potential threat. Mostly flies at night with birds able to cross large water bodies, including Cook Strait. DNA studies show it forms a super-species with the hoary-headed grebe of Australia. There also appears to be a relationship between this genus and Rollandia of South America.
Food
Mainly eats aquatic invertebrates, such as insects and their larvae, which it pecks from the surface or catches from the air. Also eats small freshwater fish and crayfish, shellfish and leeches, which it catches during dives up to 30 seconds long.
Weblinks BirdLife factsheet References
Heather, B.; Robertson, H. 1996 (rev 2000). The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Viking, Auckland.

Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J. (Eds.) 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol.1. Ratites to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.

Miskelly, C.M.; Dowding, J.E.; Elliott, G.P.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Powlesland, R.G.; Robertson, H.A.; Sagar, P.M.; Scofield, R.P.; Taylor, G.A. 2008. Conservation status of New Zealand birds, 2008. Notornis 55: 117-135.

Petyt, C. 2013. First recent recorded breeding of the New Zealand dabchick (Poliocephalus rufopectus) in the South Island. Notornis 60: 322-323.

Robertson, C.J.R., Hyvonen, P., Fraser, M.J., Pickard, C.R. 2007. Atlas of Bird Distribution in New Zealand: 1992-2004. OSNZ, Wellington, New Zealand.

Robertson, H.A; Baird, K.; Elliott, G.P.; Hitchmough, R.A.; McArthur, N.J.; Makan, T.; Miskelly, C.M.; O'Donnell, C.F.J.; Sagar, P.M.; Scofield, R.P.; Taylor, G.A.; Michel, P. 2021. Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand birds, 2021. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36. Wellington, Department of Conservation. 43 p.

Storer, R.W. 1987. Morphology and relationships of the hoary-headed grebe and the New Zealand dabchick. Emu 87: 150-157.

Tennyson, A.J.D. 2010. Podicipediformes. In: Checklist Committee (OSNZ) 2010. Checklist of the birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (4th ed.). Ornithological Society of New Zealand & Te Papa Press, Wellington.
Recommended citation
Szabo, M.J. 2013 [updated 2023]. New Zealand dabchick | weweia. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz

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New Zealand dabchick | Weweia | New Zealand Birds Online

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Grebes are small to medium-sized aquatic diving birds that use large, powerful lobed feet set far back on their body to propel and steer themselves in water. They have relatively long necks and are notable for their submarine-like ability to change their buoyancy.

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New Zealand scaup are gregarious diving ducks common throughout New Zealand. Compact and blackish, they have the silhouette of a bath-toy duck.

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New Zealand scaup are gregarious diving ducks common throughout New Zealand. Compact and blackish, they have the silhouette of a bath-toy duck. Large approachable flocks are a feature of the Rotorua and Queenstown lakeshores, and scaup are also common on the Avon River that flows through Christchurch.
Identification
New Zealand scaup are quite unlike any other resident duck species. Dark and squat with a rounded profile, they often occur in large flocks, floating with cork-like buoyancy. Scaup are diving ducks and spend a lot of time underwater, where they can travel considerable distances. Both sexes are dark-plumaged, but are easily distinguished. The male has dark black-brown plumage with iridescent blue-green head and wings, and lighter mottling on the chest and underparts. His iris is yellow and bill blue-grey. The female is a duller chocolate brown, paler on her underparts. Her iris is brown and bill grey, normally with a ring of white feathers at the base. Juvenile resemble females until 12 weeks-old when the male iris colour becomes yellow. In flight, all birds have a broad white upper-wing bar and pale white underwing. Scaup have a fast wing beat and often fly just above the water. They sometimes rest on land, but quickly retreat to water when disturbed.

Voice: males have a high pitched whistle call weeee weo-weo weo-weo weo-weoooo. The female call is a low quiet wack wack.

Similar species: brown teal are a similar size but have a long, flat body. Vagrant Australian white-eyed ducks are larger and have white undertail coverts. Males also have white eyes and both sexes have a pale saddle on the upper mandible. Australian coots are similar in body size, shape, colouration and diving behaviour, but have a bright white bill and frontal shield.
Distribution and habitat
New Zealand scaup are widely but patchily distributed throughout the North and South Islands. They are found on dune lakes in Northland and Manawatu, and on inland lakes in Waikato, Taupo, Rotorua and Hawke's Bay. In the South lsland they are common on West Coast lakes, north Canterbury waterways (including Christchurch), and eastern and southern high country and hydroelectric lakes. They are common on large, deep, freshwater lakes, including hydro-electric lakes, and are becoming increasingly common on shallow lowland lakes, slow flowing rivers and salt water. They are not found on Stewart Island, and are no longer present on Chatham Islands.

Scaup often congregate in sheltered areas near willows or reed beds, moving as wind conditions change; although they have favoured locations. They are considered non-migratory despite being capable fliers. Their numbers can fluctuate greatly on otherwise preferred lakes, suggesting at least some localised seasonal movements. Movement is also driven by ice conditions during winter.
Population
The New Zealand scaup population was estimated at 20,000 birds in the 1990s. This may have increased following the range and population expansion reported in Canterbury.
Threats and conservation
Populations apparently declined during late 1800s and early 1900s due to land clearance, associated hydrological changes, predation and hunting. Adults and chicks are vulnerable to predation during nesting and chick-rearing which may result in low breeding success. Predator control and provision of suitable feeding and breeding habitat has led to population expansion at Bromley Oxidation Ponds and Te Huingi Manu Wildlife Refuge in Christchurch. The success of this one site has probably allowed the recolonisation of the wider Christchurch area.
Breeding
The nest is well concealed on the ground close to the water. Nests may be partially open above, or covered, or have a tunnel leading to a concealed chamber. The nest is a tidy bowl consisting of the surrounding materials, and lined with a layer of down. Breeding mainly occurs between October and March. They nest solitary or in a loose colony. Only females incubate and care for young, but solitary males, or groups of males are often reported close to breeding sites. Chicks often form crèches.
Behaviour and ecology
There have been few studies on the behaviour or ecology of scaup. They are social, and can form dense rafts especially in autumn and winter and are often associated with other species particularly coots, shoveler and crested grebes. A range of male courtship behaviours were documented by Stoke (1991) including "sneak" (neck extended), "head-flicks" (rapid upwards head and bill movement) and "kink-neck" (neck held at unusual angle). Aggressive displays occur between courting males. Several males attend females until a bond has established, the bonded male will defend the female and they separate themselves from the group. Pairs form at the breeding site and last only until the female begins nesting when the bond apparently breaks. Females have been recorded laying in the nests of other females at one well-studied population (Lake Clearwater, inland Canterbury)
Food
Scaup obtain most of their food by diving. Prey items include snails, chironomid larvae and caddisfly larvae. Plant material is probably taken also.
Weblinks http://terranature.org/duckScaup.htm http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/papango.html References
Crossland, A.C. 2010. The Avon-Heathcote Estuary and the Bromley Oxidation ponds, Christchurch, New Zealand: an important area for waterbirds. Stilt 57: 5-10.

Crossland, A. 2005. A national biodiversity hot-spot from the treatment of urban wastewater - the Bromley Oxidation Ponds and Te Huingi Manu Wildlife Refuge, Christchurch. Greening the city: Bringing biodiversity back to the urban environment. Proceedings of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture Conference 21-24 October 2003. Pp: 189-192.

Innes, J.; Whaley, K.; Owen, K. 1999. Abundance and distribution of waterbirds of the Rotorua lakes, 1985-1996. Conservation Advisory Science Notes No. 236. Department of Conservation, Wellington.

Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J. 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol. 1, ratites to ducks. Oxford University Press, Australia.

Reid, B.; Roderick, C. 1973. New Zealand scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae) and brown teal (Anas aucklandica chlorotis) in captivity. International Zoo Yearbook 13: 12-15.

Stokes, S. 1991. Aspects of the breeding biology of New Zealand scaup ( Aythya novaeseelandiae). MSc Thesis, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Wakelin, M. 2004. Foods of New Zealand dabchick (Poliocephalus rufopectus) and New Zealand scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae). Notornis 51: 242-245.
Recommended citation
Adams, L. 2013 [updated 2022]. New Zealand scaup | pāpango. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz

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New Zealand scaup | Pāpango | New Zealand Birds Online

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New Zealand scaup are gregarious diving ducks common throughout New Zealand. Compact and blackish, they have the silhouette of a bath-toy duck. Large approachable flocks are a feature of the Rotorua and Queenstown lakeshores, and scaup are also common on the Avon River that flows through Christchurch.

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bunnies live in wetlands for survival rates when young

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The paradise shelduck is a conspicuous and colourful species with contrasting male and female plumages. Between a large duck and a small goose in size

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Paradise shelduck | Pūtangitangi | New Zealand Birds Online

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The paradise shelduck is a colourful, conspicuous and noisy waterfowl that could be mistaken for a small goose. It has undergone a remarkable increase in population and distribution since about 1990, including the colonisation of sports fields and other open grassed areas within urban environments. This expansion has occurred in the face of being a gamebird and hunted annually.

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Frogs

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Our frogs are unique

They are small, nocturnal and hard to see as they camouflage themselves well. Two of our species, Archey's and Hamilton's frog, live on land in shady, moist forested areas, and the Horchstetter's frog is semi-aquatic, living on stream edges.

New Zealand's native frogs have several distinctive features that make them very different from frogs elsewhere in the world:

they have no external eardrum

they have round (not slit) eyes

they don't croak regularly like most frogs.

Archey's and Hamilton's frog don't have a tadpole stage. The embryo develops inside an egg, and then hatches as an almost fully formed frog. Parents then care for their young - for example, the male Archey's frog may carry his young offspring around on his back.

Hochstetter's frog, which is semi-aquatic, does have a tadpole-like stage and the embryos can swim after hatching.

There are also three introduced species of frog in New Zealand. These species are easily distinguished from native frogs because they have loud mating calls and pass through a tadpole stage. Identify introduced frog species.

Archey's frog

Information about Archey's frog.

Archey's frog
Image: DOC

Hochstetter's frog

The semi-aquatic Hochstetter's frog is the most widespread native frog. It has been sighted at Waipu in the upper North Island, on Great Barrier Island, and in the Coromandel, Waikato, central North Island and Raukumara Ranges.

It is generally dark brown, grows up to 48 mm long, has partially webbed feet and has more warts than the other native frogs.

Hochstetter frog
Image: Greg Sherley

Hamilton's frog

Hamilton's frog ( Leiopelma hamiltoni) is one of the world's most endangered frogs. Fossil records show it was once spread from Waikato to Punakaiki. Now it survives only on offshore islands, with just two natural populations remaining - on Takapourewa/Stephens Island in the Cook Strait and Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds. It is carefully managed by DOC.

The formerly named Maud Island frog is now considered genetically similar enough to Hamilton's frog to be the same species. The populations of this species on Maud Island and Takapourewa/Stephens Island are likely to have been separated since before people arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand and will continue to be managed as separate populations.

In 1997, 300 frogs from the Maud Island population were successfully transferred to Motuara Island - the first-ever translocation of a native frog between islands. A second translocation of 300 frogs was undertaken in 2014 to boost this population after a mouse incursion was discovered on Maud Island. In 2006, 60 frogs from the Maud Island population were translocated to Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne ecosanctuary in Wellington.

DOC has created a second population of the Takapourewa/Stephens Island frog lineage on Nukuwaiata Island.

These translocations were undertaken as insurance against a disaster such as fire, disease or a predator incursion, which could wipe out the sole surviving population lineages on Takapourewa/Stephens Island and/or Maud Island.

Hamilton's frog
Image: Sabine Bernert ©

Threats

Frogs are becoming more endangered everywhere in the world. More than most creatures, frogs are sensitive to disease, pollution, chemicals and environmental changes, as they absorb many things through their sensitive skin.

Fossil records show that our native frogs were spread throughout the North and South Islands several thousand years ago. The three remaining native species have declined significantly in range and numbers over the past 1,000 to 2,000 years, as land has been cleared of forest and predators have been introduced.

Frogs are vulnerable to introduced predators such as rats, mice, pigs, stoats and cats.

Over the past 25 years, amphibian populations have declined throughout the world and disease is considered to play a key role.

Amphibian chytrid fungus is a major threat to frogs worldwide. The fungus has been confirmed in introduced frog populations all over New Zealand and in native frog populations on the Coromandel Peninsula and Whareorino Forest.

The fungus relies on damp conditions to survive and to spread. It can be spread from frog-to-frog contact or through contact with infected soil and water. People can spread the amphibian chytrid fungus by moving soil and water around on their boots, gaiters, equipment and vehicles. Animals can also spread it.

Our work

DOC has a Frog Recovery Group that provides expert advice to managers and external parties on management and research into native frogs to help with their conservation.

DOC manages island biosecurity to keep predators off islands that Hamilton's frogs are found on and undertakes monitoring of Hamilton's frog island populations along with external researchers and iwi.

DOC undertakes ground predator control and monitoring to protect Archey's frog in Whareorino and Pureora Forests and Hochstetter's frog at Otawa.

We are investigating the impacts of introduced predators on frogs, and methods for frog monitoring and translocation are being developed and improved. Frog distribution and their numbers are also being documented.

You can help

Avoid touching native frogs because you may damage their sensitive skin. If you have a permit to touch them, follow all instructions and protocols provided in your permit.

You can avoid spreading the amphibian chytrid fungus by not visiting areas where native frogs are found.

If you need to visit native frog habitat, you must ensure all your footwear, gaiters and equipment are clean and disinfected - check with the local DOC Office for further instructions and guidance.

Report sightings

As native frogs are small, well-camouflaged and nocturnal, they are hard to find. You can assist DOC greatly by reporting any sightings of native (and introduced) frogs to DOC's Herpetofauna Database, also known as the atlas of the amphibians and reptiles of New Zealand.

Report frog sightings.

Record the location, type of habitat (stream edge, forest floor), time and date you sighted them and, if possible, take photographs.

When photographing a frog to identify whether it is a native frog, try to take a clear photo of the side of the frog including its head. Introduced frogs have an eardrum on the side of their head (a circular structure) that is absent in native frogs.

DOC is also interested in records of introduced frogs as populations may transmit disease, or directly compete or predate native frogs.

Use our introduced frog identification key to find out what species you have found: Identifying introduced frog species.

Learn more

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New Zealand native frogs/pepeketua belong to the genus Leiopelma, an ancient and primitive group of frogs that has changed very little in 70 million years.

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they are cute,spiky animals that love to eat peanut- butter and cheese.

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mosquito fish are an invasive species of fish that eat the eyes and gills of our native fish (we couldn't find a picture)

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Wētā (also spelt weta) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world. Generally nocturnal, most small species are carnivores and scavengers while the larger species are herbivorous. Wētā are preyed on by introduced mammals, and some species are now critically endangered.

Wētā is a loanword, from the Māori-language word wētā, which refers to this whole group of large insects; some types of wētā have a specific Māori name. In New Zealand English, it is spelled either "weta" or "wētā", although the form with macrons is increasingly common in formal writing, as the Māori word weta (without macrons) instead means "filth or excrement".

Many wētā are large by insect standards and some species are among the largest and heaviest in the world. Their physical appearance is like a katydid, long-horned grasshopper, or cricket, but the hind legs are enlarged and usually very spiny. Many are wingless. Because they can cope with variations in temperature, wētā are found in a variety of environments, including alpine, forests, grasslands, caves, shrub lands and urban gardens. They are nocturnal, and all New Zealand species are flightless. Different species have different diets. Most wētā are predators or omnivores preying on other invertebrates, but the tree and giant wētā eat mostly lichens, leaves, flowers, seed-heads, and fruit.

Male giant wētā ( Deinacrida sp.) are smaller than females and they show scramble competition for mates. Tree wētā ( Hemideina sp) males have larger heads than females and a polygynandrous mating system with harem formation and male-male competition for mates. Ground wētā ( Hemiandrus sp.) males provide nuptial food gifts when mating and females of some species provide maternal care. Wētā eggs are laid in soil over the autumn and winter months and hatch the following spring. A wētā takes between one and two years to reach adulthood, and over this time will have to shed its skin around ten times as it grows.

Wētā can bite with powerful mandibles. Tree wētā bites are painful but not particularly common. Tree wētā lift their hind legs in a defence displays to look large and spiky, but they tend to retreat if given the chance. Tree wētā raise their hind legs into the air in warning to foes, and then bring them down to stridulate. Pegs or ridges on the side of their abdomen are struck by a patch of fine pegs at the inner surface of their hind legs ( femur) and this action makes a distinctive sound. These actions are also used in defence of a gallery by competing males. The female wētā looks as if she has a stinger, but it is an ovipositor, which enables her to lay eggs inside rotting or mossy wood or soil. Some species of Hemiandrus have very short ovipositors, related perhaps to their burrowing into soil and laying their eggs in a special chamber at the end of the burrow.

Fossilised orthopterans have been found in Russia, China, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, but the relationships are open to different interpretations by scientists. Most wētā of both families are found in the Southern Hemisphere. Wētā were probably present in ancient Gondwanaland before Zealandia separated from it. Rhaphidophoridae dispersed over sea to colonise the Chatham Islands, the Auckland, Snares and Campbell Islands. The present species might have resulted from a recent radiation, which conflicts with those earlier ideas about dispersal of wētā forebears around the Southern Hemisphere (Wallis et al. 2000).

Giant, tree, ground, and tusked wētā are all members of the family Anostostomatidae (formerly in the Stenopelmatidae, but recently separated). Cave wētā are better referred to as tokoriro, since they are members of the family Rhaphidophoridae, called cave crickets or camel crickets elsewhere, in a different ensiferan superfamily. In New Zealand there were as of 2014 19 genera of tokoriri, and their taxonomy is under review. Seven new species of South Island cave wētā were named and described in 2019, including Pleioplectron rodmorrisi.

The 11 species of giant wētā ( Deinacrida spp.) are endemic to New Zealand. Giant wētā ( wētā punga in Māori) are large by insect standards. They are heavy herbivorous Orthoptera with a body length of up to 100 mm (3.9 in), excluding their long legs and antennae, and weigh about 20-30 g. A captive giant wētā ( Deinacrida heteracantha) filled with eggs reached a record 70 g, making it one of the heaviest documented insects in the world and heavier than a sparrow. The largest species of giant wētā is the Little Barrier Island wētā, also known as the wētāpunga. Giant wētā tend to be less social and more passive than tree wētā ( Hemideina spp.). They are classified in the genus Deinacrida, which is Greek for "terrible grasshopper". They are found primarily on small islands off the coast of the main islands or at high elevation on New Zealand's South Island (e.g. the alpine scree wētā D. connectens), and are sometimes considered examples of island gigantism.

Tree wētā () are commonly encountered in suburban settings in New Zealand's North Island. They are up to 40 mm long and most commonly live in holes in trees formed by beetle and moth larvae or where rot has set in after a twig has broken off. The hole, called a gallery, is maintained by the wētā and any growth of the bark surrounding the opening is chewed away. They readily occupy a preformed gallery in a piece of wood (a "wētā motel") and can be kept in a suburban garden as pets. A gallery might house a harem of up to 10 adult females and one male. Tree wētā are nocturnal. Their diet consists of plants and small insects. The males have much larger jaws than the females, though both sexes will stridulate and bite when threatened.

The seven species of tree wētā ( pūtangatanga in Māori) are:

The North Island species each have a distinctive set of chromosomes ( karyotype). When the territories of species overlap, as with the related species H. femorata and H. ricta on Banks Peninsula, they may interbreed, although offspring are sterile.

Tusked wētā are characterised by long, curved tusks projecting forward from the male's mandibles. The tusks are used in male-to-male combat, not for biting. Female tusked wētā look similar to ground wētā. Tusked wētā are mainly carnivorous, eating worms and insects. There are three known species in two different subfamilies: the Northland tusked wētā Anisoura nicobarica (originally described as a ground wētā, Hemiandrus monstrosus), in the subfamily Deinacridinae; the Mercury Islands tusked wētā Motuweta isolata; and the most recently discovered, the Raukumara tusked wētā Motuweta riparia. Motuweta is in the same subfamily as ground wētā, Anostostomatinae.

The Northland tusked wētā lives in tree holes, similar to tree wētā. The Mercury Islands or Middle Island tusked wētā was discovered in 1970. It is a ground-dwelling wētā, entombing itself in shallow burrows during the day, and is critically endangered: a Department of Conservation breeding programme has established new colonies on other islands in the Mercury group. The Raukumara tusked wētā was discovered in 1996, in the Raukumara Range near the Bay of Plenty. It has the unusual habit of diving into streams and hiding underwater for up to three minutes if threatened.

Ground wētā are classified in the genus Hemiandrus. About 30 species of ground wētā occur in New Zealand, and several very similar (undescribed) ones are found in Australia. They are also very like the Californian Cnemotettix-a similarity perhaps due to their very similar habits and habitat. 19 Hemiandrus species have been described from New Zealand and other distinct populations require further study. They hide in burrows in the ground during the day, and those that live in open ground (e.g., , ) conceal their exit holes with a specially made perforated door. During the night, ground wētā hunt invertebrate prey and eat fruit. Most female ground wētā have long ovipositers (e.g. H. maculifrons), but some have short ovipositers and maternal care (e.g. H. maia, H. pallitarsis).

The 60 species of cave wētā or tokoriro are only very distant relatives of the other types of wētā, being classified in several genera of subfamily Macropathinae in family Rhaphidophoridae.

They have extra-long antennae, and may have long, slender legs and a passive demeanour. Although they have no hearing organs on their front legs like species of Hemideina and Deinacrida, some (such as Talitropsis) are very sensitive to ground vibrations sensed through pads on their feet. Specialised hairs on the cerci and organs on the antennae are also sensitive to low-frequency vibrations in the air.

Although some do live in caves, most species (e.g. Talitropsis sedilloti) live in the forest among leaf litter, logs, under bark (e.g. Isoplectron), inside tree holes (e.g. sp.) and amongst rocks in the mountains (e.g. ). Cave-dwelling species may be active within the confines of their caves during the daytime, and those individuals close to cave entrances venture outside at night.

Although wētā had native predators in the form of birds (especially the weka and kiwi), reptiles, and bats before the arrival of humans, introduced species such as cats, hedgehogs, rats (including kiore) and mustelids have caused a sharp increase in the rate of predation. They are also vulnerable to habitat destruction caused by humans and modification of their habitat caused by introduced browsers. New Zealand's Department of Conservation considers 16 of the 70 species at risk. Programmes to prevent extinctions have been implemented since the 1970s.

Some especially endangered species are tracked by radio beacons.

New Zealanders Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk founded visual effects company Weta Digital, naming it after the insect. The business was later renamed as Wētā FX.

1. ^ Trewick, Steve; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2014). NZ wild life : introducing the weird and wonderful character of natural New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin. ISBN 9780143568896. OCLC 881301862.

2. ^ Griffin, Melissa J.; Trewick, Steve A.; Wehi, Priscilla M.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2011). "Exploring the concept of niche convergence in a land without rodents: the case of weta as small mammals". New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 35 (3): 302-307.

3. ^ Wehi, Priscilla M.; Hicks, Brendan J. (2010). "Isotopic fractionation in a large herbivorous insect, the Auckland tree weta". Journal of Insect Physiology. 56 (12): 1877-1882. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2010.08.005. ISSN 0022-1910. PMID 20709068.

4. Griffin, Melissa J.; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steve A. (2011). "Is the tree weta Hemideina crassidens an obligate herbivore?" (PDF). New Zealand Natural Sciences. 36: 11-19.

5. ^ Kelly, Clint D.; Bussière, Luc F.; Gwynne, Darryl T. (2008). "Sexual Selection for Male Mobility in a Giant Insect with Female‐Biased Size Dimorphism" (PDF). The American Naturalist. 172 (3): 417-423. doi:10.1086/589894. hdl:. ISSN 0003-0147. PMID 18651830. S2CID 22494505.

6. Wehi, Priscilla M.; Jorgensen, Murray; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2013). "Sex- and season-dependent behaviour in a flightless insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica)". New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 37 (1): 75-83.

7. ^ Taylor Smith, B. L.; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steve A. (2013). "New Zealand ground wētā (Anostostomatidae: Hemiandrus): descriptions of two species with notes on their biology". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 40 (4): 314-329. doi:10.1080/03014223.2013.804422.

8. ^ Field, Laurence H. (2001). The biology of wetas, king crickets and their allies. Wallingford, Oxon., UK: CABI Pub. ISBN 9780851994086. OCLC 559432458.

9. ^ Gwynne, Darryl T. (2005). "The secondary copulatory organ in female ground weta (Hemiandrus pallitarsis, Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae): a sexually selected device in females?". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 85 (4): 463-469. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00510.x. ISSN 0024-4066.

10. ^ Pratt, Renae C.; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steve A. (2008). "Diversification of New Zealand weta (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Anostostomatidae) and their relationships in Australasia". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. 363 (1508): 3427-3437. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0112. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC . PMID 18782727.

11. Johns, P. (1997). "The Gondwanaland weta: family Anostostomatidae (formerly in Stenopelmatidae, Henicidae or Mimnermidae): nomenclatural problems, world checklist, new genera and species". Journal of Orthoptera Research. 6 (6): 125-138. doi:10.2307/3503546. JSTOR 3503546.

12. ^ Cook, Lorraine D.; Trewick, Steven A.; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Johns, Peter M. (2010). "Status of the New Zealand cave weta (Rhaphidophoridae) genera Pachyrhamma, Gymnoplectron and Turbottoplectron". Invertebrate Systematics. 24 (2): 131-138. doi:10.1071/IS09047. ISSN 1447-2600.

13. ^ Trewick, Steven A.; Hegg, Danilo; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Fitness, Josephine L. (2018). "Reinstatement of the New Zealand cave wētā genus Miotopus Hutton (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae) and description of a new species". European Journal of Taxonomy (468). doi:10.5852/ejt.2018.468. ISSN 2118-9773.

14. ^ Wehi, Priscilla M.; Brownstein, Gretchen; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2020). "Indigenous plant naming and experimentation reveal a plant-insect relationship in New Zealand forests". Conservation Science and Practice. 2 (10): e282. doi:10.1111/csp2.282. ISSN 2578-4854.

15. ^ Morgan-Richards, M (1997). "Intraspecific karyotype variation is not concordant with allozyme variation in the Auckland tree weta of New Zealand, Hemideina thoracica (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 60 (4): 423-442. doi:10.1006/bijl.1996.0114.

16. ^ Bulgarella, Mariana; Trewick, Steven A.; Minards, Niki A.; Jacobson, Melissa J.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2013). "Shifting ranges of two tree weta species (Hemideina spp.): competitive exclusion and changing climate". Journal of Biogeography. 41 (3): 524-535. doi:10.1111/jbi.12224. ISSN 0305-0270. S2CID 62892108.

17. ^ Morgan-Richards, M. (1995). "A new species of tree weta from the North Island of New Zealand (Hemideina: Stenopelmatidae: Orthoptera)". New Zealand Entomologist. 18: 15-23. doi:10.1080/00779962.1995.9721996.

18. ^ Mckean, NE; Trewick, SA; Morgan-Richards, M (2015). "Comparative cytogenetics of North Island tree wētā in sympatry". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 42 (2): 73-84. doi:10.1080/03014223.2015.1032984. ISSN 0301-4223. S2CID 56256942.

19. ^ Mckean, Natasha E.; Trewick, Steven A.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2016). "Little or no gene flow despite F1 hybrids at two interspecific contact zones". Ecology and Evolution. 6 (8): 2390-2404. doi:10.1002/ece3.1942. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC . PMID 27066230.

20. ^ Taylor-Smith, B. L.; Trewick, S. A.; Morgan-Richards, M. (2016). "Three new ground wētā species and a redescription of Hemiandrus maculifrons". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 43 (4): 363-383. doi:10.1080/03014223.2016.1205109. ISSN 0301-4223. S2CID 88565199.

21. ^ Trewick, Steven A. (2021). "A new species of large Hemiandrus ground wētā (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae) from North Island, New Zealand". Zootaxa. 4942 (2): 207-218. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4942.2.4. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 33757066.

22. ^ Johns, Peter (2001). "Distribution and conservation status of ground weta, Hemiandrus species (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae)". Science for Conservation. 180 - via New Zealand Department of Conservation.

23. ^ Smith, BL Taylor; Morgan-Richards, M.; Trewick, S. A. (2013). "New Zealand ground wētā (Anostostomatidae: Hemiandrus): descriptions of two species with notes on their biology". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 40 (4): 314-329. doi:10.1080/03014223.2013.804422. ISSN 0301-4223.

24. ^ Fea, Murray P.; Mark, Cassandra J.; Holwell, Gregory I. (2019). "Sexually dimorphic antennal structures of New Zealand Cave Wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 46 (2): 124-148. doi:10.1080/03014223.2018.1520266. ISSN 0301-4223. S2CID 91313050.

25. ^ Hegg, Danilo; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steven A. (2022). "High alpine sorcerers: revision of the cave wētā genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the description of six new species and three new subspecies". European Journal of Taxonomy (808): 1-58-1-58. doi:10.5852/ejt.2022.808.1721. ISSN 2118-9773. S2CID 247971884.

26. Richards, Aola M. (1961). "Some Observations on New Zealand Cave-wetas". Tuatara. 9 (2): 80-83.

27. ^ Hegg, Danilo; Morgan-Richards, Mary; Trewick, Steven A. (2019). "Diversity and distribution of Pleioplectron Hutton cave wētā (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the synonymy of Weta Chopard and the description of seven new species". European Journal of Taxonomy (577). doi:10.5852/ejt.2019.577. ISSN 2118-9773. S2CID 209576180.

28. ^ Roy, Eleanor Ainge (21 October 2016). "From a draughty hut to Hollywood: the rise of Peter Jackson's secretive animation giant". The Guardian.

Wallis, G. P.; Morgan-Richards, M.; Trewick, S.A. (2000). "Phylogeographical pattern correlates with Pliocene mountain building in the alpine scree weta (Orthoptera, Anostostomatidae)". Molecular Ecology. 9 (6): 657-666. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.00905.x. PMID 10849282. S2CID 26987872.

Sherley, Greg H (1998). "Threatened Weta Recovery Plan" (PDF). Department of Conservation.

Bleakley, Craig; Stringer, Ian; Robertson, Alastair; Hedderley, Duncan (2006). Design and use of artificial refuges for monitoring adult tree weta, Hemideina crassidens and H. thoracica. Wellington, N.Z.: Science & Technical Pub., Dept. of Conservation. ISBN 9780478140620.

Salmon, John T. (1956). "A Key to the Tree and Ground Wetas of New Zealand". Tuatara. 6 (1): 19-23.

Ramløv, H. (2000) Aspects of cold tolerance in ectothermic animals. Journal of Human Reproduction. 15 (Suppl. 5): 26-46.

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Wētā (also spelt weta) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world. Generally nocturnal, most small species are carnivores and scavengers while the larger species are herbivorous.

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The black mudfish can be found in Waikato, along with Auckland and Northland. It is unique to New Zealand and found nowhere else in the world.

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The black mudfish can be found in Waikato, along with Auckland and Northland. It is unique to New Zealand and found nowhere else in the world.

Once widespread, they have disappeared from many areas in the lower Waikato and Hauraki Plains, mostly due to widespread loss of habitat (at least 75% of Waikato wetlands have been drained), invading pest fish and reduced water quality.

Black mudfish have a conservation status of At Risk-Declining under the NZ Threat Classification System.

Black mudfish

Survival skills

Like other mudfish species, black mudfish have a number of very unusual adaptations for the wetlands and peat lakes in which they live. They can survive out of water, sometimes for several months, when their wetland habitat dries out over summer, as long as they are kept moist by burrowing under tree roots or into mud or damp leaf litter.

During this time, black mudfish slowly lower their metabolism, reducing the amount of energy they need to live (in a similar way to hibernating bears, and sometimes known as 'aestivation' in mudfish), but immediately wriggle into life when water returns.

Their skin is coated in tear-like mucus, which helps keep them moist out of water and also protects the fish against infection, and they absorb oxygen through their skin.

Black mudfish populations can be found at Whangamarino Wetland in Waikato

Threats

Despite these clever adaptations, black mudfish have very specific habitat requirements, and are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss, pest fish and water quality decline.

How you can help

Here are some things to do to keep black mudfish in the Waikato:

Fence stock out of waterways.

Plant harakeke/flax and native sedges like carex and toetoe (not pampas) along stream banks and drains. Vegetation rooted in shallow water in and around farm drains helps provide black mudfish with shelter and food and reduces the water temperature, retaining moisture which is essential for mudfish survival.

Clear farms drains less frequently, retaining vegetation to provide habitat and shade. Use a digger-arm to protect drain-side vegetation.

Protect wetlands on your property. As well as being mudfish habitat, wetlands filter farm run-off and help keep the streams clean.

Create a farm management plan that includes nutrient budgeting, effluent disposal and sustainable peatland management. You can get help with creating farm management plans from the Waikato Regional Council, DairyNZ and NZ Landcare Trust

Read NZ Landcare Trust's fish factsheet: Native fish on the farm

Related link
Download our factsheet: mucking in for mudfish (PDF, 1000K)

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The black mudfish can be found in Waikato, along with Auckland and Northland. It is unique to New Zealand and found nowhere else in the world.

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something fantastic

(What!, it told me to write "something fantastic"!!)

From Kāhu :)

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PESTS

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Hippopotamuses are large mammals found in sub-Saharan Africa. Their name comes from the Greek word for "river horse" because they're often found in water, which helps them stay cool in the hot, tropical climate where they live.

The hippo's nose, ears, and eyes are on the top of its head, and they protrude from the water while the rest of its head and its body lie beneath the surface. That way a hippo can breathe, see, and hear even while its body is submerged. When a hippo sinks completely underwater, its nose and ears automatically close so that no water seeps in as they walk along the bottoms of rivers and lakes.

At dusk, hippos leave their watery daytime spot, lumber onto land, and walk as far as 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the water to graze on short grasses, their main food. They are not considered to be very fast moving animals, but in short bursts they can run up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour!

Grazing until dawn, a hippo may eat up to 150 pounds (68 kilograms) of grass a night. They avoid the heat of the sun by returning to a river or lake before sunrise.

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Hippopotamuses are large mammals found in sub-Saharan Africa. Their name comes from the Greek word for "river horse" because they're often found in water, which helps them stay cool in the hot, tropical climate where they live.

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Beavers live in wetlands.

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wetland wildlife fact sheet.

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fish are in wetlands

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They're endangered native creatures to our country

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and its brown

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dragon fly love water and are stone cold killers to bugs.

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river booges are like flouting moss in rivers(could`nt find a pic.) :( :( :l :]

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river booges are like flouting moss in rivers(could`nt find a pic.) :( :( :l :]

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The term “pond scum” refers to various types of algae that form into clumps in a pond, sometimes creating carpets of pond scum across the surface of the water. These floating weeds can come in different colors, ranging from green and blue to brown and violet.