Department of Conservation rangers working in the Waimatuku Stream near Invercargill have discovered it’s teeming with a threatened species of fish.

Named after the Lord of the Rings character Gollum, the Gollum galaxias fish is known for its large eyes, short, stocky body and blunt, rounded snout.

DoC river ranger Pat Hoffman said it was an exciting find.

In the right light, the fish seemed to have a gold gleam.

“They’re named galaxias because it reminded the person who named them of stars,” Hoffman said.

“I think they’re pretty cute.”

On a more serious note, they were threatened with extinction and nationally vulnerable.

“So, very exciting to find another population in this stream; they haven’t been recorded officially before, so it was a good discovery.”

The stream is in an intensively farmed catchment with not much native vegetation left.

“So, we were quite surprised to find them in so many locations.”

Hoffman said the fish didn’t seem to mind living in a slow-moving stream.

Not much was known about the total numbers of Gollum galaxies; however, in the past they had been spotted in the lower reaches of the South Island, including Stewart Island, the Catlins, other parts of Southland and the Clutha River in Otago.

Hoffman said DoC hoped it could continue working with farmers, manu whenua and the councils to protect the fish’s habitat in those areas.

- RNZ