2009/01/01 by Peter Ellery, Ellery, Peter M., Brendan J. Hicks +1
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Amphibian and Reptile Biology #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Fish Ecology and Management Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.26021/589
openalex publication_date 2009/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
The Kaituna River on New Zealand's east coast is about 50 km long and drains lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti.An extensive flood control scheme, including stop-banks and gates, prevents flow of water from the lower river main channel to the original floodplain.In addition, a new, shortened channel (the Kaituna Cut) diverts the river directly to the sea instead of flowing through its original course into the Maketu Estuary.Minnow-trapping of inanga, common smelt, and bullies in 50 year-old ponds, recently constructed ponds, and riverine sites showed that new ponds were colonised by inanga within three months of construction.New ponds had higher catch rates than old ponds, and both new and old ponds had higher catch rates than the river, where no inanga were caught.Extrapolations from trap catch rates (2-13 inanga per 100 m 2 ), suggest that old ponds held about 8-20 inanga per 100 m 2 , while in new ponds there were 24-67 inanga per 100 m 2 .Our study suggests that constructed ponds can provide suitable habitat for inanga from the Kaituna River to rear to adulthood, and shows the importance of off-river habitat for New Zealand's most important whitebait species.