what's that whitebait net? · 2013. 2. 4. · ample, the waita or maori river. however, it is...

What's in That Whitebait Net?

Bv R.M. McDowall

Fisheries Research Division lnformation Leaflet No- 3

Fisheries Research Division information leaflet no. 3 (1972)

Published by the New Zealand Marine Department, Wellington.

Copies are obtainable from the Editor, at the same address.


WHAT'S ¡N THAT WHITEBAIT NET?

Over the years there has beengreat controversy about the identityol whitebait, about where they comelrom and what they srow into.Vhitebait fishermen hÑe varyingopinions on the number ol' differenttypes ol whitebait from one tomany types are recognised - andthe problem is compounded by theappearance ol other whitebait-likefìshes in the catches during spring.Some ol the questions that fìsh-ermen are asking about the identityof their catches are discussed in thislea flet.

What are Whitebait?Whitebait are juveniles ol some of

our lreshwater fìshes. They havespent the winter in the sea sincehatching lrom eggs in the previousautumn. so they are abou[ 6 monthsold when they run into the rivers.When they hatch irom the eggs theyare about I l3 in. long, and theyhave grown to about 2 in. duringwinter. Littìe is known about theirlile in the sea, but they have beeniound in the surlace waters manvmiles off shore.

What do Whitebait Grow into?

This is a question that has beenargued vehemently lor a long time.Studies have shown conclusivelythat they grow into five differentspecies of fìsh belonging to the genusGalaxias. So there are five differentsorts of whitebait. These occur invarying numbers at different times

ol the year and in different types ofrivers. but all five are foundthroughout New Zealand.

The commonest whitebait growsinto the inan-qa, Galaxias maculatus,u smlll lìsh ctlmmon in estuarics.swamps, and rivers near the sea.

The adult, or inanga, is usually only3 to 4 in. long. though sonlctinìes itis as long as 6 in. It is a slender fìsh

without scales (none ol the whitebaitadults have scales). silvery on thebelly and greenish on the back.

The whitebait oi this speciesmakes up nearly the whole catch inmany rivers. especially warmer riv-ers draining coastal hills, for ex-ample, the Waita or Maori River.However, it is accompanied by sev-eral of the other species in colderrivers, particularly those rivers fedby glaciers, such as the Haast orArawata Rivers. The whitebait olGalaxias maculatus is one oi thelargest whitebait, up to 2 or even2 /: iì. long. It is also the mosttransparent whitebait, having theglassy-green colour most favouredby whitebait buyers.

The second mrlst common white-bait is the young ol a fish known toscience as Galar,ias brevipinnis, andusually called naLive mountuin trr,¡ut

by fishermen and others iamiliarwith it. The adult is a secretive fishlounð in swiftly flowing rockystreams still enclosed by native lor-est and is a larg,:r fish than the in-anga, reaching arlout 8 in. or more.


Galaxias maculatus -

inanga. a: Adult. b: Whitebait.

It is elon-sirte. of'alnrost eel-like pro-portions. with thick leathery' hns. a

ruLther l'lattened head, and a recedinglor,rer jirw. lt is olive-g.reen t0brown, rvith greenish gold specklingor blotch ing on the sides.

The w hitehirit of' this species iscom monest in the snow-fed rivers,like the Haast or Arawata. where itmay make up as much as hall thecatch. This whitebait is also large,reaching about 2 in. long, but it hasa nriìky appearance even whent'reshly caught. The fìns just behindthe head, the pectorul fìns, are pro-nrinent, sticking out lrom the headand provoking the nanre "clephant

cars" anlong sonle fìshernren.

A less common whitebait is theyoung ol Galaxia.s fascictlus, lheh¿rnded kokopu, which is sometimescal led native trout or Maori trout. Itis common in small, quiet, rockystreams in the lorest and may be

lound also in lorest swamps. lt is a

stout and thick-bodied fìsh, rvith a

conspicuous nrouth and thick, [ìeshyhns, and re¿rches a length ol aboutl0 in. It is usually a dull bluish grey,with pale vertical bands along thebody, f'rom behind the head to thet¿il in snlall fìshes, but only on therear hall of the body in very largeo nes.

b/q-_¿*<,1:fì---¡,----<-t-l-

Galaxias brevípinnís - native mountain trout. a: Adult. b: Whitebait.


The whitebait ol Galarias fas-ciatus is the snrallest of'the white-bait ol'ten I r/: to l)+ in. longand is slender. Though it is trans-parent, it ol-ten has a plrle anlbercolour which is sonle\\ hat distinctiveand which gir,'es rise to the nalle"-qolden hait." Like those ol the Ga-

la.tias brevipirnrs u'hitebuit. the pec-

toral fìns are held out lronr the oodyand so ¿rppear prontittettt.

Another, rarer whitebait is thejuvenile ol Galarias postveclis, ako-kopu-like fìsh that is rare and has lrocommon nanre. When it is flound,the adult is anrong rocks, boulders,and logs in snrall streanls in the i'or-est. It grows to about l0 in. and is a

Galaxias postvectis. a: Adult. b: Whitebait.


stout fìsh, u'ith a rounded body, andtapering slender snout. The lo',verjaw is distinctly' shorter than the up-per and the fins are thick and fleshy.'l hrs fish is usually a dark blue-greyto grey-brown and rather unilorm incolour, thou-sh there may be a laintnrarbling pattern on the sides oi thebody

The whitebait ol Galar¡as po.tt-vectis is al most identical in size andappearance to that ol Galaxiasbrevipinnis, but it is probably sorare as to be unimportant in thecatch.

The fiith species ol u'hitebait isalso rare and is the juvenile ol Ga-laxias argenteus oÍ giant kokopu.again commonly known as Maoritrout or native trout. The adults livein small swampy streams, swamps,and lakes near the coast. It is muchthe largest species, growing up to 2

It long, though commonl) only l0 tol5 in. lon-s. People, understandably,often find it hard to believe that this

large, stout, heavill' built fish is infact an adult whitebait It is usuallva dark- to buff-brown colour, andthe body'is liberally covered withfìne gold spots, rings, crescents, andlines. The whitebait stage is aboutlr,á in. long and is stout.

The giant kokopu seems to becaught only toward the end ol thehshing seuson. usually appearing invery small numbers some time dur-ing the first l0 to l5 days ol Novem-ber. It, too, has prominent pectoralfìns and. like the whitebait ol Ga-laxias fascial¿l.ç, has a stight ambereolour, but, like Galaxias postvectis,it is so rare that it is unimportant inthe commercial whitebait catch.

Gutty WhitebaitGutt), whitebait fish so called

because the gut has become filledwith lood and because dark grey-brow'n coloration has del'eloped onthe head and trunk are whitebaitthat have spent a few days or more


in the rivers leeding and growing.Gutty whitebait ol all the fìve white-bait species are caught bY white-baiters, especially late in the season.

Obviously they are not another typeoi whitebait, but, rather, a laterstage in their growth to maturitY.

Other Fishes Caught withWhitebait

The five species described aboveare the true whitebait of the com-mercial frshery, but they are by no

means the only fish caught by white-baiters. Notes on the other fishesknown to have been caught in white-bait nets are given below.

Gobiomorphus huttoni - red-finned bully. a: Adult. b: Juvenile. c:

Juvenife oi Philypnodon hubbsi.

Whitebait fishermen olten catchwhat look like very tiny whitebait,about an inch long. Sometimes theyare so abundant that they are a pest.These are juvenile bullies coming upstream out of the sea.

The red-finned bully, Gobio-morphus huttoni, which lives intumbling rocky streams, and thecommon bully, Gobiomorphus ba-sal¡s, which lives in more gentlyflowing streams and often on gravelor sandy bottoms, have similar juve-niles. They are transparent, butsometimes have a lew dark blotcheson the head and trunk.


Gobiomorphus gobioides -

giant bully. Adult.

The third species is the young of'the blue-gilled bully, Phil.t'pnodonhubbsi, which lives in lhe very swif-test water ol river rapids. lts juve-nile may have a series ol V-shapedbands across the trunk, giving a dis-tinctive herring-bone pattern. Itslower jaw projects forward beyondthe upper jaw, which clearly dis-tinguishes it fron the red-lìnned bul-ly and the comnron bull;'.

These fìsh are known [o sonlewh itebaiters as "spawn", " DanDoolin spawn", or "whale feed".The adults ol these three species,which may be 3 or 4 in. long, arealso sometimes caught by whitebaitfìs hernren.

Another bully, caught only as anadult b1'some whitebaiters, is theso-called giant bully or Gobio-nrorphtts gobioides. This is a large.stout, rather groper-like fìsh whichmay be 6 or 7 in. long. Usually it is

dark grey-black.Glass eels, the young ol the long-

fìnned eel, A nguilla die.ffenbachi i,and the short-lìnned eel, Anguillaaustrali.s, olten migrate at the sametime as whitebait and so are caughtby whitebait fìshernten. Like thewhitcbait, Lhe glass eels have spenttheir early liie in the sea and are mi-grating up rivers to begin their longlreshwater liie. When they conte outol the sea they are transparent, but

b

Anguilta australis - short-finned eel. a: Adult. b: Glass eel.


Retropinna retropinna - common coastal smelt. Adult.

soon become a dusky grey-brownlike the larger adults.

"Silveries", "cucumbers", orsnrelt are another tìsh that white-baiters catch, olteri in large num-bers. They enter the river mouths inbig shoals. I n some North Islandrivers they migrate when about a

year old at a length ol about 2 to 2t/2

in. and look rather like stout white-bait. I n most rivers they come inwhen they are about 3 to 4 in. long

and a year older. At this stage theyare mature adults, not juveniles likethe whitebait. and they are enteringthe rivers to spawn. Though theyhave a strong and unpleasant cu-

cumber-like odour, they are good

eating once boiling water has been

poured over them. They look ratherlike slender trout, with large scales

which dislodge very easily, and are a

bright silvery colour.

Rhombosolea retiaría -

black or river flounder- Adult.


There are two species, one loundonly on the east coast ol the SouthIsland Stokell's smelt, StokellÌaanisodon and one iound through-out New Zealand the commonsmelt, Re¡ropinna retropinna. Thewhitebait caught in Te Whanga La-goon, Chatham Islands, and in theWaikato Rìver, is mostly the com-mon smelt.

Several larger fishes are alsocaught by whitebaiters, in ones andtwos. The well-known, introducedbrown lroul, Salmo tuila, is a com-mon occupant of whitebait nets, as

is the lreshwater or black flounder,Rhombosolea retiaria. The yellow-eyed mullet (or so-called herring),Aldrichetta forsterÌ . runs into rii'erestuaries on the risin-s tide and is oi-ten caught in whitebait nets. Theyellow-eyed mullet olten has white-bait in its mouth when removedfrom whitebait nets. But unliketrout, eels, and black flounders.

which certainly leed on whitebait,the muilet leeds mostll' on detritus

--rotting organic matter on thebottom - and on seaweeds. Then,hitebait are probably taken in-cidentally by the mullet in whitebaitt ra ps.

Two peculiar fìshes are very occa-sionally caught in whitebait nets.The lamprey, Geotria australis, mi-Srates into fresh water to spawn inspring and is an elongate eel-likefish, but it has no pectoral and pel-vic fins and no jaws. only a circularmouth rather like a suction cup.When it first leaves tl"e sea it is a

handsome silvery fish with a deepblue band along the back, but altera while in fresh water it becomes a

dull grey. It is reputedly very goodto eat.

The torrent ñsh or shark bully,Cheimarrichthys fosteri, is a ratherbully-like fish with a tapering flat-tened head and a small mouthplaced beneath the head to give it a

Cheimarrichthys fosterí - torrent fish. Adult.


rather shark-like appearance. Itlooks very like a _ureyish colouredblue cod. It grows to about 6 or 7 in.long and lives in the very slviltest ru-pids ol gravelly rivers.

These fìshcs. all of'thenl nativeexcept the brown trout, are the fìsh-es that whitebaiters catch lrom time

to time in their whitebait nets. Someol them are good as lood; all ofthem have interesting habits thatnlake them worth studying. Muchremains to be learnt about all thesefìshes, but whlt inl'ornlrrion cxistscan be obtained lrom the FisheriesResearch Division.

Information about the regulations goveming white-bait fìshing may be obtained from the head óffice ofthe Ministry of Agricultu¡e and Fisheries, P.O. Box229 8, W elhngton, or from district o ffices o f the Ministry.


Originally publìshed in I9'l2,reprirted unchanged in 1979

E. C. Keating, Government P¡interWellington, New Zealand- I 979

29107E-80oBks14l79 M


what's that whitebait net? · 2013. 2. 4. · ample, the waita or maori river. however, it is...

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