Native Fish

Kelly Tarlton's is home to around 2,000 fish including Sea horse, Octopus, and Pigfish, to name a few.Our fish are fed daily and they consume about 100 kg of fish, squid, mussels, and dietary supplements a week. 

Pigfish

Pigfish are very curious and will float just centimetres from the diver’s head. Even when divers aren’t feeding in the tanks, they will always have Pigfish lingering close by, ready to snap up anything that looks like food. 

Scientific Name:        Bodianus vulpinus

Maximum Length:    50 centimetres

Colour:                         Female cream/white with pink upper back and snout, three rows of rectangular blood-red blotches on her body.

                                       Male red head and body with large cream blotch of back

Family:                         Labridae

Diet at Kelly's:            Herring, Mussels, Squid, and Krill

Habitat:                        Found around New Zealand and various Pacific Islands including Hawaii and Japan  

Pigfish Fact: 

• Male Pigfish will not tolerate another male in the same area and will fight to the death to defend his harem of females and territory. He constantly patrols his patch looking for males and trying to attract females  

Eels

Fresh water eels are capable of living over 100 years of age, and only spawn once before dying. They are however becoming rare due to over fishing, habitat destruction and declining water quality. 

Scientific Name:           Anguilla australis (Short finned) 
                                         Anguilla dieffenbachia (Long finned)

Maximum Length:        Short finned - 1 meter 
                                         Long finned - 2 meters

Colour:                            Short finned - usually golden-olive to olive-green colour dorsally, the belly is creamy-white. 
                                         Long finned - usually dark brown to grey black dorsally and yellowish-grey ventrally

Family:                            Anguillidae

Diet at Kelly's:                Herring, Mussels, Ox Heart and Liver


Fishy Facts about Eels

• When an Eel is threatened, it will release large amounts of slime to help them slip away from predators.
• During a long migration, an Eel stops eating and its stomach shrinks to allow for the maturation of the gonads prior to spawning.
• After spawning in the sea off the coast of Western Samoa, the adult Eels die and their young float in the sea’s plankton layer, slowly making their way back to New Zealand with the oceanic currents.

Seahorses

Kelly Tarlton’s Seahorses have their own specially designed tank where these fascinating fish spend their time hanging from seaweed, using their prehensile tail. This means their tail is adapted for wrapping around a piece of seaweed, the same way as a monkey’s. With their tail coiled around a solid object in the tank, Seahorses face into the current, awaiting food to float their way.

Scientific Name:          Hippocampus abdominalis

Maximum Length:      25 centimeters

Colour:                          Large colour variation from light grey through yellow and brown, to almost black.

Family:                          Syngnathidae

Diet at Kelly's:             Small crustaceans - such as mysis shrimp

Unusual Traits:           The male gives birth to the babies – can be up to 400 at a time 


Fishy Facts about Seahorses 

• The Seahorse belongs to the Syngnathidae family, the only group of animals where the male becomes pregnant. When mating, the female Seahorse inserts her eggs into the male’s pouch. The male fertilises the eggs as they enter his pouch and carries them for up to a month before going into labour for several hours, giving birth from anything from 20 to 400 babies!
• Seahorses propel themselves by a dorsal fin on their back, and they steer by using their pectoral fins which are situated on their heads.
• Male Seahorses can be distinguished by their smooth, white lower abdomen. This is the broodpouch, used for carrying the eggs.  

Octopus

Octopuses have great eyesight. Our resident Octopus is a master of disguise. Right in front of your eyes it will change colour to match its surroundings and can even change the texture of its skin to further camouflage itself.

Scientific Name:     Octopus gibbsi

Colour:                     An expert in camouflage, octopus can change colour to mirror their surrounding

Family:                     Octopodidae

Diet at Kelly's:         Crabs, Mussels and Herring

Unusual Traits:       Many people believe Octopus ar smarter than cats, as they have a good capacity for learning.


Fishy Facts about Octopus 

• Octopuses are great escape artists; an adult Octopus can squeeze through a hole the size of a 10-cent coin.
• Octopuses are part of the Mollusc family, more closely related to Pipis and Mussel rather than fish.
• Octopuses are generally nocturnal.