Hyporhamphus ihi

Hyporhamphus ihi is commonly known as the garfish, piper or takeke in English. In the indigenous Māori language, it has several names: , , , and . ==Description==

The garfish is an unusual looking fish with many distinct features such as its elongated slender body, as well as its long lower jaw. The garfish typically grows to about . The colouring of the fish allows it to appear somewhat camouflaged due to it having a greenish blue upper body with brown flecks and a silver-white belly and underbody. According to Montgomery and Saunders, "the fish can control its coloration by expanding or reducing the pigment in the dorsal melanophores". They also have a long silver stripe running from the top of the pectoral fin base to the tail. The pelvic fin aids the fish with stopping quickly and general stability, as well as diving into deeper waters and rising to the surface. The caudal fin is the main propulsion fin, also known as the tail. Garfish have a forked caudal fin with a large lower lobe, called the hypocercal tail. Due to their mouth posted far back from the front end of their body, "this places the mouth in a superior position making the garfish 'well adapted 'for surface feeding". Another feature they obtain is the two to three rows of teeth that they have in both the upper and lower jaw. and the dentaries (which is an anterior bone of the lower jaw which is an area that bears teeth. ==Distribution==

The garfish is endemic to New Zealand and this particular species is only found here, however southern garfish, H. melanochir a similar species can be identified in Australia. The garfish occurs all around New Zealand. They are also found in the southwest Pacific and the Chatham Islands. This is due to their localised schooling behaviour, which makes it difficult to estimate abundance. The fish are typically found in the open ocean during the daytime, staying close to the surface of the water to avoid detection. They migrate to harbours and estuaries in the evening. ==Life cycle==

The lifestyle patterns of the garfish are unknown to New Zealand in great detail; however, they may be similar to closely related species from Australia such as the southern garfish (H. melanochir). It is known that the New Zealand garfish matures at and had a maximum of , however, the maximum age may be slightly lower than 10 years. The New Zealand garfish is known to spawn at the end of spring to around the beginning summer. This is done in shallow bays, allowing the eggs to sink to the seafloor and adhere to vegetation. After the eggs adhere to the vegetation the larvae may be taken in coastal plankton surveys. It is also suspected that the garfish are less variable in comparison to other small pelagic eggs. This feature however allows localized populations, which are susceptible to local depletion. ==Prey and predators==

Garfish are omnivorous as they feed on eelgrass, seaweed and smaller crustaceans, The schooling behavior of garfish also exposes them to heavy predation from sea birds such as gannets, shags and penguins. However, it is unlikely that garfish would be predated on by all three seabird species at once. The species of seabird that the garfish is subject to predation from is heavily dependent on whereabouts in the marine environment they are. Garfish schooling in shallow harbor areas are likely to be predated upon by shags, while garfish schooling in more open, deeper waters will more likely become prey for gannets/penguins. ==In a human context==

Garfish were once a staple resource for early Maori and were of high cultural significance. They were a source of food as well as an important source of bait when fishing for larger species such as yellowtail kingfish. Garfish were generally caught by dragging a finely woven flax net across seagrass beds in shallow harbors. A seine-like technique was used where one end of the net was fixed to the shore while the other end was dragged out and around in a large arc and pulled back to shore. The same technique is still used by modern fishermen by where a fine mesh net is dragged around shallow harbors. The garfish are often kept alive and transported to other fishing grounds where they are deployed as live baits for fish such as snapper, kingfish and kahawai. Garfish are considered easy to fish in New Zealand. They are often eaten by battering and frying in a doughnut shape, created by rolling a fish around a bottle as a way to more easily break and remove the spine. ==References==