THE WHITEBAIT AND ITS HABITS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4419, 25 February 1930, Page 3

THE WHITEBAIT AND ITS HABITS.

BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS BY CAPTAIN L. HAYES.

SEARCHING FOR THE SiPAWN-

TNG GROUND.

Captain L. Hayes, M.C., of the Marine Department, was a visitor to Foxton last week to carry out biological investigations into the life and habits of the whitebait. Captain Hayes has previously carried out research work in the Whakapuna Drain at Manawatu Heads, well-known for its whitebait, and this year he timed his visit to coincide with the opening of the drain which, for some months, has been closed at its junction with the lakes to enable deepening and cleaning operations to be carried out. Last Thursday morning Captain Hayes carried out an examination of the lake known as Robinson’s No. 1 prior to the barrier between the lake and the drain being removed. He was in search of inanga, the parent fish of the whitebait, but failed to find any trace of them although young smelt abounded along the edge of the lake. At midday the water was let through into the drain and during the afternoon Captain Hayes maintained a careful watch over the waterway but saw only three inanga making their way down to the sea. The Captain returned to town late in the afternoon and made hasty preparations for an all-night vigil on the banks of the drain and on his return he was accompanied by Mr. Hans Andreseu, a well-knoWn local fisherman who can boast 49 years of- whitebait fishing and a “Herald” representative. The party bivouaced on the eastern bank 'of the drain about a quarter of a mile south of the lake and there rigged up an acetylene lamp and powerful electric torches which so brilliantly illuminated a patch of water the whole width of the drain that the bottom was quite easily discernible. MOVING MASS OF EELS.

A cold wind was blowing and scattered showers did not tend to make conditions very pleasant In 1.!, nevertheless, this did -not dampen the enthusiasm of Captain Hayes. The big inanga run to the sea was due and that was what he wanted to see. The vigil, however, was •kept in vain for not a solitary inanga was seen that night, but as, far as our representative was concerned the sight witnessed was without parallel. Gazing silently and expectantly into the brilliantly lit water a shadowy figure was seen to glide smoothly into the light, then, timidly turn about and slide back up stream into the darkness. It • was an eel. Back it came,' this time accompanied by several other shadowy forms and, as if having gained courage by reason of the pumber of his companions, he stealthily slid through the illuminated area, and was off to the sea. This proved to he the first of the procession for from then on until 11 p.m. the drain was just one living mass of eels all twisting and twirling, some entwining around i thers, some quite dark, others almost silvery in colour, some small, many large and now and again a real “taniwha” passed through the ure of light, most of them cautiously timid until the darkness bn the other side was reached, but all with that unconquerable desire to reach the sea- after having been confined in the lakes. When the urn was at its height, 587 eels were counted in a comparatively short time, but towards 11 p.m. the procession commenced to dwindle. The run was over for that night and the water in the drain returned once more to its usual calm and nothing more of importance was seen. An-inspection of the waterway to its junction with the lakes was made hut all was quiet. At the month of the lake, right in the middle of the stream, where the current was running fastest, head pointed into the lake lay a huge cel. In girth it was easily as large as the thickest portion of a man’s teg while it must have been at least five inches across the head. Lazily she (for Captain Hayes told bis companions that the monster was a female) moved her tail from side to side remaining apart from that quite immovable in the running stream. Even when the Captain hashed his torch to and fro in front of her she appeared to take no notice but finally when the torch was placed within a few inches of her she moved easily and without any apparent effort, out into the lake just like some miniature submarine gliding from a mooring. The Captain informed his companions' that the fish had evidently been lying in the current to free itself from parasites. It was by no means the largest that had been seen in the lake. Two Maoris working in the vicinity had that day trailed two monsters they had caught down the drain just as anyone would haul a log downstream to obviate carrying it.

INSPECTING DRAIN OUTLETS. The following morning Captain Hayes, accompanied by the local Inspector o£ Fisheries (Constable Owen) and our representative set out to make an inspection of the various other outlets from the chain of lakes along this coast. The party proceeded along the ocean 'beach to the outlet of Hunia’s Lake some miles north of Manawatu Heads. In the back water in the sandhills just above highwater mark little lish could be seen imping out of the water and it was not long before (Captain Hayes had his waders on, and, armed with a net set about catching samples. The tiny denizens of this particular lagoon, however, proved to be for the most part smelt and young Urines. A teay

nnga found on the edge of the water was carefully placed in the preserving jar for future inspection. Although Captain Hayes spent some hours cai’efully exploring the locality, which, he said, was an ideal habitat for inanga nothing of any importance was discovered. Turning hack, the outlets of Koputara Lake were also carefully investigated and here the Captain was successful in netting what appeared to be an ordinary whitebait. There were several such fish located and a good sample obtained. The investigator did not appear to attach any great importance to this find, however, and intimated that lie had obtained a good sample at AYaikanae during the previous week. Before leaving the locality, however, the Captain investigated the. outlets at tlieii junction with the sea, prospecting for any signs of whitebait eggs in the wet sand but without result.

The afternoon was spent in an exploration of the various drains leading into the Manawatu River between Foxton and the Heads. In the drain serving the Matakarapa Swamp inanga were discovered but there were no traces discovered of breeding localities. A GAME LITTLE FISH.

On Saturday Captain Hayes again visited Robinson’s Lakes and was successful in locating the breeding ground of the little fish commonly known as the “bully.” A 'nest of eggs was discovered on the edge of the lake over which the male fish was maintaining guard in accordance with the custom, of this species. The Captain, after stealthily approaching the water’s edge slowly stretched his finger towards the nest but the parent fish stood bis ground and even Hipped his tail menacingly against the intruder’s linger. The Captain said the “bully” was a game fish and one of the very few that guarded its eggs until they were hatched out. He removed the nest from the water in the piece of mussel shell to which it was attached, and the consternation of the parent fish was very real. It swam round and round the spot in a greatly agitated manner and when the Captain again placed the shell in the water a short distance away it immediately located it and returned to the nest. The Captain, however, took the nest and a sample of the fish for future reference.

During the afternoon and evening and following day Captain Hayes spent his time in conferring with local fishermen and Natives on the habits of the whitebait in the Manawatu and as a result of his investigations lie is very confident that he will, within the next few weeks, be able to definitely locate the breeding ground of these elusive little fish.

INANGA THE PARENT FISH. In conversation with our representative Captain Hayes said that the object of his visit had been to endeavour to locate the breeding ground of the whitebait which up to the present' was more s ,or less a mystery. As a result of his investigations he was now quite confident that he was on the right track and hoped within a very short time to be able to make an announcement in this connection. Last May lie had visited Foxton and obtained a sample of inanga. Both 'male and female fish had been taken back to Wellington and there stripped and breeding successfully carried out. The male fish, however, had succumbed after five months of captivity owing to a possible injury, but the female was still quite healthy. It was fed on ice cream wafers and was now quite tame. In fact it would take food in the form of portions of the anatomy of a blowfly from his hand. That the parent of the whitebait was the inanga' had been definitely established but as to the breeding ground little, if anything, was at present known. It had however, been reported that oq the 19th of February, 1922, whitebait had been seen spawning- in the estuary of the Hokitika River but unfortunately no sample had been obtained. During his last visit the Captain made arrangements for the Department to be communicated with if anything out of the ordinary bad been noticed in connection with the movements of the inanga. As far as could be ascertained the inanga ran to the sea early in January ami with the drain blocked he had high hopes of seeing the fish swarm out of the lake as soon as the blockage was removed owing to them having been prevented from leaving at the normal time. He was, however, greatly disappointed to learn from beach residents on hi# ax-rival here that a big run of inanga bad been seen in the drain in October. The Department had not been communicated with and as to the authenticity of the statement he was not prepared to say anything. They had previously understood that- there were two distinct runs of inanga, the first, that of the adult, or two-year-old fish, in January or February, and the other in April and May when the younger fish left their habitat for the sea. The inanga did not die on going out of the lakes and back waters as popularly supposed. It bad been found that it spawned somewhere and then went back to its habitat to again spawn in subsequent years. The whitebait after being batched left the breeding ground wherever it was and made up the streams to the back waters, lagoons, etc., where they grew to maturity, that was those that managed to escape the fishermen on route.

Captain Hayes said he had recently examined the eggs of a five and a quarter inch inanga caught in the Hutt River and after careful calculation estimated that the

every contained 13372 eggs. Fecundity, as in practically all fish, was however, not very good and the mortality in the young fish relatively high but even so, given proper habitat there was not much chance of the whitebait becoming extinct. The outlet to Hunia’s Lake was an ideal habitat for the inanga but it appeared as if these localities wore becoming very scarce in iliSoC parts. Draining operations bail possibij been responsible for this as in years gone by the little fish bad access :o the Moufoa and other swamps now drained. PROTECTED BREEDING AREA ESSENTIAL.

To bring back the whitebait in the Manawatu and tributaries to what it was some years ago would not be a difficult matter. All that was required was suitable areas or preserves for the fish to live in and after inspecting Matakarapa Captain Hayes expressed the opinion that portion of this land could be made an ideal habitat at very little expense by means of suitable drains which would Hood portion of the waste area to a reasonable depth. Fresh water was essential as the little fish would not venture far up a c-reek unless they could feel fresh water ahead. The whitebait eggs were very sticky and held together right until the batching period was over and were evidently meant to stick on to rocks or sticks, etc. The eggs of the smelt were to be found on rocks but so far, concluded Captain Hayes, we have been unsuccessful in locating any wild whitebait eggs, although we have every hope of being able to secure some within the next- few weeks.