Southland inanga in the Limelight

Shannan Crow, 25, from New Plymouth is researching the rivers and waterways of Southland to find out more about our indigenous species of whitebait or inanga.

He has spent the last seven years or so studying Zoology at Otago University in Dunedin, and Te Ohu Kaimoana has sponsored his doctoral studies into the two most common species of Southland inanga. He is learning more about the physical characteristics of the fish, where they prefer to live and what they eat.

Shannan Crow's research could help improve abundance of the Southland inanga.

 

“Such information is essential if we are to successfully utilise any animal for a resource or to simply preserve them for future generations,” he says.

There are around 20 species of inanga in Aotearoa consisting of migratory and non-migratory species. The most common that is caught and sold commercially throughout the country are migratory species, but Shannan is conducting his studies into two non-migratory species.

Shannan says his research will help provide a lot more knowledge about these indigenous freshwater fish. “The information regarding habitat preferences will allow local fisheries managers to enhance environmental variables favoured by the fish to assist with increasing abundance,” he says.

Originally it was generally believed that Inanga were a single variable species, but over time it's been discovered that distinct species exist. “As more and more knowledge has been found about them, they've been split up into more and more species, but there's still very little known about them,” he says.

Once completed, Shannan hopes to conduct some post-doctoral work with iwi.

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Tiakina ngā rawa hi ika, a tātou kaimoana mo ngā uri whakaheke
Protecting Māori fisheries assets for future generations

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