Prototroctes oxyrhynchus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	OSMERIFORMES	RETROPINNIDAE

Scientific Name:

Prototroctes oxyrhynchus

Species Authority:

Günther, 1870

Common Name/s:

English

–

New Zealand Grayling

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Extinct ver 2.3

Year Assessed:

1996

Annotations:

Needs updating

Assessor/s:

World Conservation Monitoring Centre

Justification:
The last recorded specimen of Prototroctes oxyrhynchus was brought to the British Museum in the 1930s, however, the origin and date of collection were not noted.

History:

1994	–	Extinct (Groombridge 1994)
1990	–	Extinct (IUCN 1990)
1988	–	Extinct (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1986	–	Extinct (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Prototroctes oxyrhynchus was endemic to New Zealand.
Countries:	Regionally extinct: New Zealand

Population [top]

Population:	The species was abundant at the time of European settlement in the 1860s, but population decline was noted by the late 1870s. The disappearance of the fish from the Waikato River was noted in 1874, and by 1900 the species was apparently rare. There are reports of grayling being caught in the 1920s and in the early 1930s a specimen, possibly the last, was brought to the British Museum, however, the origin and date of collection were not noted.

Population:

The species was abundant at the time of European settlement in the 1860s, but population decline was noted by the late 1870s. The disappearance of the fish from the Waikato River was noted in 1874, and by 1900 the species was apparently rare. There are reports of grayling being caught in the 1920s and in the early 1930s a specimen, possibly the last, was brought to the British Museum, however, the origin and date of collection were not noted.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The New Zealand grayling was an amphidromous species, inhabiting freshwater, brackish and marine environments. Spawning apparently occurred in freshwater streams and hatched larvae made their way downstream to the sea where they remained until maturity and returned to freshwater spawning areas.
Systems:	Freshwater; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The extinction of this species was possibly due to a combination of the effects of introduced trout and the deterioration of the freshwater habitat through the clearance of forest cover resulting in increased light penetration and raised water temperature.

Major Threat(s):

The extinction of this species was possibly due to a combination of the effects of introduced trout and the deterioration of the freshwater habitat through the clearance of forest cover resulting in increased light penetration and raised water temperature.

Citation:	World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Prototroctes oxyrhynchus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 10 February 2012.
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