Ehara i te mea he motuhake te tuna heke (Anguilla australis) ki Aotearoa nei. Kitea ai ngā tuna heke puta noa i ngā wai whaka-te-tonga o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, i Ahitereiria, i Niu Karetōnia, i te moutere o Norfolk, i te moutere o Lord Howe, i Whītī anō hoki pea. Noho ai ēnei ki ngā whenua raorao, ā, e kore e heke whakarunga i te awa, ki uta rawa rānei pēnei i ngā tuna ōrea. He pai ake ki te tuna heke ngā wai mātaitai mahana o te roto taha moana, o te roto tuawhenua hoki.
He ika kaikiko tēnei, ka kai te tuna heke i ngā mawhiti, i ngā ika, i ngā poraka me ngā manu iti anō hoki. Ka heke i te wai māori ki te moana ki te whakaputa hua, ā, ka mate hoki i reira. He tau ngā punua ka hoki mai i te moana ki te piki.
Ko te tuna heke te ika tino manawa rahi o ngā ika taketake. Ka ora tonu rātou i te wera o te wai, i te heke rānei o te hāora o te wai. Nā tērā, ka ora ngā tuna heke i ngā puni kaiao e mate nei ētahi atu ika.
Ko te rerekētanga o te tuna heke i te tuna ōrea ko te roa o te urutira. He āhua iti iho te tuna heke pakeke.
He whakamānawa ki a NIWA me Taihoro Nukurangi
