DSC_4505 Golden tench (Tinca tinca) are present in New Zealand in only very low numbers and were imported illegally around 1980. They occur in a few small ponds north of Auckland. They prefer slow-moving or still waters and are classified as ‘sports fish’, until recently they have been largely ignored by coarse fishermen, because they are timid and nocturnal. A licence is required to legally fish for them. Northland *
11004-09708 Golden Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) adult. Originally from western Europe were illegally imported into New Zealand in 1967. They were then stocked into numerous waters around Auckland, and a few ponds near Christchurch. Wild populations of this pest species are now present from Northland to the Waikato, from Taranaki to Wellington, and in the South Island from Nelson to South Canterbury. Rudd suppress the regeneration of macrophytes in turbid lakes and their high numbers reduce water clarity in shallow lakes through a reduction in large zooplankton. Lake Maraetai *
