Habitat and interspecific relationships of the Canterbury mudfish, Neochanna burrowsius (Salmoniformes: Galaxiidae)

Abstract

Neochanna burrowsius (Phillipps) inhabits some streams at low altitudes between latitudes 43°15'S and 44°55'S in Canterbury, New Zealand. Some habitats contain almost no open water because of concealing vegetation; others have large expanses of open, impounded water. The true habitat appears to be very slow flowing, winding, swampy streams that contain deep pools capable of storing water for long periods if flow ceases. Land drainage may have eliminated this mudfish from some places, but it has adapted to man‐modified conditions in others, and may have increased in numbers in recent years. Ability to sometimes survive drought stems from its adaptation to habitats subject to low dissolved oxygen levels; there is no preparation for aestivation. Usually no other fish species are associated with it in the temporary waters it sometimes inhabits, but Gobiomorphus breviceps, G. cotidianus, Anguilla australis, A. dieffenbachii, Galaxias maculatus, and G. vulgaris are native fishes sometimes found in association with it in permanent waters. Salmo trutta and Perca fluviatilis are exotic species that have been found in the same waters as N. burrowsius. It has been found in the stomachs of eels, trout, and perch. © 1979 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.