Story: European discovery of New Zealand

Spotted stargazer

Spotted stargazer

The French explorers added to European knowledge of New Zealand, its inhabitants and its natural history. Louis Isidore Duperrey spent two weeks in the Bay of Islands in April 1824. He had brought with him a naturalist, René Primevère Lesson, and an artist, Antoine Germain Bevalet. Both probably had a hand in recording a fish they called Uranoscope kouripoua, now known as the spotted stargazer (Genyagnus monopterygius).

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PUBL-0116-Poi-18
Hand-coloured lithograph by J. L. D. Coutant

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

John Wilson, 'European discovery of New Zealand - French explorers', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/1439/spotted-stargazer (accessed 25 April 2024)

Story by John Wilson, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 May 2016