Beautiful video about one of 🌿 New Zealand's 🌿 most ancient fish 🐟 residents! 10mins = beautiful NZ scenery, weird/fascinating 🐟, and inspiring 🐟 conservation mahi (work):

Kanakana - Ngāi Tahu Mahinga Kai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUeyAYktiuQ&t=659s

"Older than the dinosaur, the kanakana is a taonga species for Ngāi Tahu whānau especially those from Murihiku like the Blair whānau. Kanakana migrate from around August to the end of October swimming up the Waikawa and Mataura rivers on route to their spawning grounds upstream."

Kanakana = pouched lamprey (fish)
Taonga = treasured species
Ngāi Tahu = Māori (indigenous people of NZ) tribe

If you have 10 min it is definitely worth the watch!

'Ka kitea a Matariki, ka rere te korokoro'
(When Matariki is seen, the lamprey migrate)

This month is the time to celebrate Matariki and with it the migration of korokoro/kanakana/lamprey in New Zealand!

Dr. Rangi Matamua gives a wonderful presentation on Matariki where he discusses the details of Matariki:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3FQ-jyydF8

Waitī, the star of freshwater, must be burning bright this year since there have already been several reports of migrating lamprey from New Zealand and Chile!

Quote reference: Mead & Grove 2001
Image reference: https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/learn/for-educators/teaching-resources/matariki-classroom-resources

In the beginning of July mature adult pouched lamprey (Geotria australis) will begin their migration up the rivers in Adelaide. These adult lamprey have just spent time (researchers do not know how long!) in the ocean feeding and are now making their way back into freshwater in order to spawn. PhD student, Allison Miller, from the University of Otago will be going to Adelaide to collect samples for genetic analyses. The results from these analyses will depict how lamprey in Adelaide are related to all other pouched lamprey in the Southern Hemisphere.