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  • Hands holding a banded kōkopu (Galaxias fasciatus).
    Rights: Stella McQueen Published 14 December 2017 Size: 83 KB Referencing Hub media

    The banded kōkopu1 (Galaxias fasciatus) lives in pools with good cover such as overhanging banks, logs and boulders. It is usually found in pools or under undercut banks. Like the giant kōkopu, it is sometimes referred to as the Māori trout or native2 trout.

    These fish prefer stream temperatures of 12–18°C and are particularly sensitive to pollutants such as ammonia3, which occurs in livestock waste and poorly treated wastewater.

    Banded kōkopu lay their eggs on leaf litter and plants above streams during high flows. The hatched larvae4 then float out to sea where they live and grow over winter, migrating back upstream as whitebait in spring. However, some populations5 can ‘lake-lock’ and carry out their entire life cycle in freshwater – this is termed lacustrine. Banded kōkopu have a multitude of lacustrine populations nationwide.

    Acknowledgement: Stella McQueen

    1. kōkopu: A type of native fish. There are three known species in New Zealand – giant, banded and shortjaw.
    2. native: A species that lives naturally in a country, as opposed to species that have been introduced by the activity of humans. 
    3. ammonia: A compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent smell.
    4. larva: An immature form that some animals (such as insects, crustaceans and amphibians) pass through before metamorphosing into an adult form.
    5. population: In biology, a population is a group of organisms of a species that live in the same place at a same time and that can interbreed.
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      kōkopu

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    2. A type of native fish. There are three known species in New Zealand – giant, banded and shortjaw.

      larva

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    4. An immature form that some animals (such as insects, crustaceans and amphibians) pass through before metamorphosing into an adult form.

      native

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    6. A species that lives naturally in a country, as opposed to species that have been introduced by the activity of humans. 

      population

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    8. In biology, a population is a group of organisms of a species that live in the same place at a same time and that can interbreed.

      ammonia

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    10. A compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent smell.