Fiordland College students find at-risk fish habitat using Wilderlab eDNA
Evidence of Gollum galaxias has been discovered in the Ewe Burn in the last few weeks by year 10 students from Fiordland College, working with The Kids Restore the Kepler programme. The savvy scientists have been gathering environmental DNA data samples for their Science Stream Study project.
The Gollum galaxias (Galaxias gollumoides) is named after the bulging-eyed, secretive, water-dwelling creature from Tolkein’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
They are not found anywhere else on earth except in Southland and Otago, where they live in swampy wetlands.
The fish are classified as “at risk, declining” and the Department of Conservation reports they are fast disappearing because of changes to land uses in the southern region.
The students used Wilderlab’s sampling kits in the field and submitted their samples to us for multi-species testing. Upon subsequent analysis in our Wellington laboratory, the presence of koaro and longfin eel was also confirmed.
Lily Raynor and Liam Smith collecting eDNA from the Ewe Burn. The Southland App PHOTO: Supplied