inanga
1. (noun) inanga, whitebait, Galaxias maculatus - a small silvery-white native fish with a slender body. Found in streams, rivers, lakes, swamps and pools throughout the coastal regions of Aotearoa/New Zealand up to 215 km inland. Forms small to large schools. Maximum size 190 mm. Adults mature at 1 year and migrate downstream on new or full moons to spawn when the spring tide floods marginal vegetation. Eggs are left amongst the vegetation out of the water and hatch at the next spring tide.
Ka nui te whaikōrero, ka tukua te kai, arā, te tuna, te inanga, te kōura, te toitoi (JPS 1901:74). / After a lot of speech-making, food was presented, that is eels, whitebait, crayfish and giant bully.
2. (noun) a whitish or creamy-coloured variety of greenstone.
Ko te pounamu tuatahi i kitea e ia, he inanga; i kitea atu ki te inanga ika nei, e tau ana mai i roto i te awa (JPS 1913:113). / The first greenstone he saw was that kind called 'inanga', it was seen in the river with the fish called 'inanga' (whitebait).
3. (noun) inanga, Dracophyllum longifolium, grass tree - a tree up to 12 m high found from south of East Cape to Stewart Island. Has slender erect or spreading branches. Rigid, leathery grass-like leaves are usually crowded towards the tip of the branchlets.
4. (noun) bamboo.
