Tuna Life Cycle Journey
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Tuna Life Cycle Journey
Tuna’s life cycle fact file
Tuna is the Māori word for eel. Longfin tuna live in Aotearoa New Zealand. They spend most of their lives in freshwater rivers, streams and lakes, although they can also travel through the sea. When adult tuna are ready to breed, they travel downstream and out to sea, then swim a very long way to the Pacific Ocean near Tonga to spawn. Eggs hatch into tiny, leaf-shaped larvae. Ocean currents carry the larvae towards New Zealand. As they change and grow, they become small, see-through young eels called glass eels or elvers. These enter rivers and grow into young tuna, then adults. Māori words used for this journey include tuna (eel), pīpī (young eel or elver), and kaitiakitanga (guardianship).
- Egg → ocean larva → young eel (pīpī/elver) → adult tuna
- Adult tuna → egg → young eel → ocean larva
- Young eel → adult tuna → ocean larva → egg
- A lake in the South Island
- The Pacific Ocean near Tonga
- A mountain stream in Australia
- Tuna
- Pīpī
- Kaitiakitanga
- Guardianship
- Eel
- Young eel or elver
3 printable pages
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
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