A tropical fish never before seen off the New Zealand mainland has been discovered at a Northland marine reserve.
The Department of Conservation was trialing a remote-operated camera when it discovered the small Damselfish swimming 80 metres down, in the Poor Knight islands off Northlands east coast.
Marine biologist Dr Debbie Freeman says the Damselfish was a subtropical species normally found in warmer waters off Australia, and the Kermadec Islands.
She says it is the first record of it around mainland New Zealand.
RadioLIVE