Trisha Shetty (Editor)

New Zealand grayling

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Subfamily
  
Prototroctinae

Scientific name
  
Prototroctes oxyrhynchus

Higher classification
  
Prototroctes

Order
  
Osmeriformes

Family
  
Retropinnidae

Genus
  
Prototroctes

Phylum
  
Chordata

Rank
  
Species

New Zealand grayling httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Similar
  
Retropinnidae, New Zealand smelt, Australian grayling, Shortjaw kokopu, Whiteline topminnow

Environmental new zealand grayling


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.

References

New Zealand grayling Wikipedia