#Four rivers native game how to#
#Four rivers native game skin#

The larvae are called leptocephalus and look nothing like an eel вЂ“ they are transparent, flat, and leaf-shaped. When they reach their destination, the females lay millions of eggs that are fertilised by the male. When they are ready to breed they leave New Zealand and swimВ all the way to the sub-tropical Pacific Ocean to spawn, probably in very deep ocean trenches. Longfin eels breed only once, at the end of their life. The top teeth form an arrow shape on the roof of the eelвЂ™s mouth.

They also have a very large mouth with rows of small, sharp, white teeth. They have tube nostrils that protrude from the front of their head, above their upper lip. Longfin eels have a well-developed sense of smell. Occasionally, they may be seen out hunting for food but most of their hunting takes place at night.Д®els hunt by smell rather than sight. They will also eat fresh-water crayfish and even small birds like ducklings.Дuring the day, eels are secretive, hiding under logs and boulders or under riverbanks. When they get bigger, they begin to feed on fish. Small longfin eels living amongst the river gravels will feed on insect larvae, worms and water snails. Very occasionally, longfin eels found in the wild are partially or even wholly bright yellow in colour.

In colour, longfins are usually dark brown to grey black. This helps it to 'see' in its watery environment.

#Four rivers native game skin#

The eelвЂ™s skin is very sensitive to touch. While they have the appearance of being scaleless, tiny scales are embedded deeply within their thick, leathery skin. The longfin eel is so named because its top (dorsal) fin is longer than its bottom fin. Like all fish, eels have scales and fins. The head becomes much more slender and tapered, almost bullet-like and the eyes enlarge to up to twice their normal size. They change shape again when they get ready to migrate to their breeding grounds. When they are small, they have relatively smooth heads but as they grow the head becomes bulbous, with a prominent muscular dome behind the eyes. In shape, eels are elongate, slender-bodied fishes, almost tubular. But today, youвЂ™ll seldom find an eel heavier than 10 kg. Pictures of fishers and huge eels used to appear regularly in local newspapers. The biggest longfin eels reported have weighed as much as 40 kg. The biggest eels are usually old females that have been slow to reach sexual maturity and, for reasons that are not yet understood, have not migrated to sea to breed. Large longfins have been estimated to be at least 60 years old. During their life, they can grow up to two metres long.Д¬ompared with many other fish, eels are slow growing - a longfin may grow only between 15-25mm a year. When eels begin life, they are a tiny one millimetre in length. It is not unheard of for an eel to climb a waterfall of up to 20 metres. Elvers (young eels) swimming up river will climb waterfalls and even dams by leaving the water and wriggling over damp areas. They are legendary climbers and have made their way well inland in most river systems, even those with natural barriers. They live mainly in rivers and inland lakes but can be found in almost all types of waters, usually well inland from the coast. Longfin eels can be found throughout New Zealand.

#Four rivers native game how to#

Learn about the differences between the species and how to tell them apart. ButВ each species isВ unique in its own way. Identifying eelsДЄt first glance, all New Zealand freshwater eels look the same. But pressure on some species is resulting in their decline. Tuna (the MДЃori word for eels) are not only historically important to MДЃori, they are our taonga today.