New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Growth, diet, movement, and abundance of adult banded kokopu (Galaxias
fasciatus) in five Coromandel, New Zealand streams
David W. West*
Ian G. Jowett
Jody Richardson
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research Limited
P.O. Box 11 115
Hamilton, New Zealand
*Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, The
University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. email: dww5@waikato.ac.nz
Abstract Banded kokopu populations were surveyed seasonally
over 1 year in five Coromandel streams to determine the influence of food
supply on diet, growth, abundance, and movement. Streams with high benthic
invertebrate abundance and drift of aquatic origin had high fish abundance.
However, terrestrial drift was the dominant food for adult banded kokopu
over all seasons and streams, on average comprising 75% of their diet by
number and 89% by weight. Annual growth rates of tagged individuals ranged
from 3 mm to 16.5 mm, with smaller fish growing faster than large fish. Low
growth rates of large fish were consistent with the recapture of a fish that
had only grown from 195 mm to 215 mm in 7 years. Our observations confirmed
the strong association between banded kokopu, pool habitat, and cover, and
also indicated that high fish abundance restricted growth rates and movement
and increased interaction.
Keywords banded kokopu; Galaxias fasciatus; growth;
diet; density; pool fidelity; terrestrial invertebrates; invertebrate drift
M04129; Online publication date 17 June 2005 Received 16 July 2004; accepted
21 February 2005
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2005, Vol. 39:
915-929
0028-8330/05/3904-0915 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005
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