SPATIOTEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF FISH IN THE KAKANUI RIVER ESTUARY, SOUTH ISLAND, NEW-ZEALAND

The fish community of the Kakanui River estuary on the east coast of t he South Island, New Zealand, was studied seasonally over 1 year by di el seine netting and nocturnal fyke (trap) netting. Twenty species wer e recorded, although nine of these together constituted 0.2% of the to tal number of fish caught. Marine species were represented by single i ndividuals of four species. Brown trout (Salmo trutta) and rainbow tro ut (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were the only species without an obligatory m arine life-history phase. Small benthic fishes, cockabullies (Triptery gion nigripenne), and common bullies (Gobiomorphus cotidianus) were th e numerically dominant species and, together with a further nine speci es, were resident year-round. Winter was the season of lowest abundanc e of most species. Spatial patterns of distribution were apparent with common bullies, giant bullies (G. gobioides), and longfinned eels (An guilla dieffenbachii) occurring mainly in the upper estuary; common sm elt (Retropinnna retropinna) mainly in the lower estuary; and cockabul lies, yelloweyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri), and shortfinned eels ( Anguilla australis) present throughout the estuary.