DSC_4693 Feral swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) Adult female. A feral population of this tropical aquarium fish established in the Waipahihi, a geothermal stream which flows into Lake Taupo. However a recent survey has failed to find any, and so that feral population may now be extinct. 'Green' swordtails (above) apparently from the wild, are still occasionally reported from Taupo area. The particular strain depicted, was first collected in 1951 from the Rio Lancetilla, Hondurus in South America *
DSC_9274 Leopard fish (Phalloceras caudimaculatus) male. This introduced species was first reported in stock troughs in Northland, the water having been pumped from a nearby stream. In 1966 as a young boy, Rod found small numbers in Western Springs among a population of mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) *