A rare fish caught in the Whangarei Harbour has fish experts buzzing, and the specimen destined for the national museum, Te Papa.
Whangarei fisherman Richard Osborne caught the 20cm-long northern species Gonorynchus last week.
Mr Osborne said he knew immediately that the fish was unusual and decided to show it to theMinistry of Fisheries in Whangarei to find out what it was.
"I've been a fisherman all my life but I'd never seen anything like it," Mr Osborne said.
The catch has excited experts at New Zealand's national museum Te Papa, who immediately asked the ministry branch to freeze it and forward it for study.
Te Papa fisheries collection manager Andres Stewart said he could not wait to get his hands on the specimen.
The fish species was also known as the beach salmon, sand fish or sand eel, he said.
The southern species of the fish was fairly common but this was the only known complete adult northern species specimen found in the country.
Little was known about the northern species. The southern species grows to a metre long, lives on soft seabeds and is known to burrow into the sand by day and emerge at night to feed.
"It is a very curious fish. There are certain characteristics that show they are in some way descended from eels. Its larvae are very similar to eel larvae," Mr Stewart said.
The fish would be studied and x-rayed at Te Papa, then pickled for the national collection at the museum.
