a genus of fish of the order Galaxiiformes, related to salmon. It has a bare body with motley coloring. Length, up to 30 cm. There are several dozen species, distributed in the seas and coastal and fresh waters of New Zealand, Tasmania, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. Some are catadromous (migrating from rivers to the sea to spawn). For example, Galaxias attenuatus leaves the rivers of New Zealand in January to March and spawns in the sea among the coastal sea vegetation during high spring tide. In this way the growth of the roe takes place out of the water in the moist atmosphere; the larvae come out of the roe after approximately two weeks during the next spring tide. The young at first live in the sea and then enter the rivers. The adult fish, having spawned, return to the rivers between March and May. They feed mainly on invertebrates. Several species have local commercial significance.
A. A. SVETOVIDOVA