Notothenia angustata

Notothenia angustata, the Maori chief, is a species of notothen native to the Southern Ocean between New Zealand and Chile south to the Antarctic, at depths to 100 m (330 ft). The juveniles are often found in tide pools.[1]

Maori chief
Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Nototheniidae
Genus: Notothenia
Species:
N. angustata
Binomial name
Notothenia angustata
F. W. Hutton, 1875
Synonyms
  • Paranotothenia angustata (F. W. Hutton, 1875)

The Maori chief is a large (up to 41 cm (16 in) long),[1]) bottom-living fish not too dissimilar to the Maori cod. It has a large mouth, a prominent bony ridge above each eye, a rounded caudal fin, and two lateral lines which overlap slightly. The first dorsal fin is small with only six spines.[2]

The Maori chief is dark grey or green above, mottled with blue-black, and is yellow on the belly. Numerous small, grey spots and streaks are on the head, suggesting the complex tattoos once worn by Māori chiefs, and the fins are grey with some darker mottling.[2]

It eats a variety of invertebrates and small fishes.[1]

References
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Notothenia angustata" in FishBase. February 2014 version.
  2. Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
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