ANIMAL LIFE IN THE LAKE

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 60, 11 March 1953, Page 5

ANIMAL LIFE IN THE LAKE

AN INTERESTIN G VARIETY

(By

H H.)

In this article I shall deal lightly with the fauna or animal life of Lake Taupo . In about 1902 I gave a lecture to the then Hawke's Bay Fhilosophical Society oh the moliusca of Taupo and this led me to the study of this interesting subject. The Native Fish. First of all I shall refer to the fish in the Lake. There is the Kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus) or native trout; the Inanga (Galaxias attenuatus) or whitebait; and then the socalled ^blind fish" of Roto-a-ira Lake, the Koara (Galaxias koaro), that go away in underground streams, swimming into the Lake in tlhe winter months. The trout is a modern addition, the brown being first successfuHy introduced in 1894 and 1895, and the rainbow in 1903, but I do not inclufle them in the native fauna. There is also the Koura, cr fresh water crayfish, which makes a delightfully tasty meal. Molluscs. Then eome the molluscs, of which I would suppose there to be about forty kinds in and around Lake Taupo, from the smallest shell fish which go a long way as food for trout to land shells around the margin of the lake. The Kakahi, the freshwater pipi or mussel (Diplodon), were particularly common in the Lake in

earlier years. Some thirty years ago the Lake shore was strewn with them. Now comes the remarkable land snail, Wainuia clarki, named by Mr A. W. B. Powell, conchologist to the Auckland Museum, after Dr Clark of Napier, w'ho came across the shell on the island of Motutaiko. The first live specimens were found some years later on Motutaiko by Mr Robert Davies, of Taupo. The land snails of the genus Wainuia are allied to the genus Paryphanta, but are smaller. The best known of the genus Paryphanta, but are smaller. The best known of the genus Paryphanta is the Pupurangi, or kauri snail, found only in North Auckland and offshore islands. Wainuia clarki is a most interesting nail, for to date it has been found only on Motutaiko Island, Lake Taupo. I have hunted on the mainland surrounding the Lake for a specimen but without success.

Sponges. Then we come -to the sponges (Spongilla). These are delightful items of interest to be. found on the Lake shore at certain times of the year, usually in May. At this time they used to line the shore of the Lake particularly after storms. So.m-e were quite large, an inch to two inches in size,^ but most were smaller. My best specimens were colleeted in May 1929, when the beach was strewn with them, but since those days I have seen but few.