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New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstractsNURSERY GROUNDS OF TARAKIHI (TELEOSTEI: CHEILODACTYLIDAE) AROUND NEW ZEALANDC. M. VOORENFisheries Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Wellington, New ZealandAbstract Nursery grounds of the tarakihi Cheilodactylus macropterus (Bloch & Schneider) were discovered in 1963-72 mainly off the south-western coast of the North Island, in Tasman Bay, along the entire eastern coast of the South Island, and around the Chatham Islands. They occurred at depths of 20-100 m, and mostly between 10 km and 30 km from shore. The tarakihi nurseries had a dense and varied invertebrate bemthic epifauna dominated by sponges and small corals. Few signs of nurseries were found in. other New Zealand waters, in spite of the existence of major spawning grounds there. It is not known with which spawning grounds the various nursery grounds are linked.The Tasman Bay nursery ground is 18-33 km wide and about 75 km long, with a surface area of about 2000 km2. There is a rich demersal fish fauna (37 species were recorded) dominated by tarakihi, red gurnard Chelidonichthys kumu (Lesson & Garnot), snapper Chrysophrys auratus (Bloch & Schneider), and leathei'iacket Novodon convexirostris (Guenther). The young tarakihi occur at depths of 20-45 m and concentrate during winter in the warmer deeper water. They first appear in trawl catches in summer, towards the end of their first year (assumed birthdate is 1 March), and stay on the nursery until the age of 3 y. They occur in the deeper water off the nursery during their fourth and fifth year and depart during their sixth year, possibly for the spawning grounds off the west coast of the South Island.
N.Z. Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 9 (2): 121-58.
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