New Zealand grayling
| New Zealand grayling | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Osmeriformes |
| Family: | Retropinnidae |
| Subfamily: | Prototroctinae |
| Genus: | Prototroctes |
| Species: | P. oxyrhynchus |
| Binomial name | |
| Prototroctes oxyrhynchus Günther, 1870 | |
The New Zealand grayling, Prototroctes oxyrhynchus, is an extinct smelt of the genus Prototroctes, which was found only in lowland rivers and streams of New Zealand. They were an amphidromous species—spawning in freshwater streams and developing to maturity in saltwater. Their length was between 20 and 40 cm.
Though abundant through the early colonial period, by the 1860s their population began to decline. The last known specimen was caught in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Deforestation and competition from feral trout may have contributed to the New Zealand grayling's extinction.[1]
References
- 1 2 West, D, David, B. & Ling, N. (2014). "Prototroctes oxyrhynchus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
External links
- Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Prototroctes oxyrhynchus" in FishBase. March 2006 version.
- NIWA June 2006
- David Day (1981): The Doomsday Book of Animals.
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