A fossil fish discovered nearly 30 years ago on New Zealand's Pitt Island has finally been fully studied after researchers recovered the original collector's missing field notebooks. The 1.2-meter specimen, identified as an ancient tarpon-like predator, was named Ikawaihere koehleri. The completed research was published recently in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics.
Dr. Richard Köhler found the three-dimensionally preserved fossil in 1999 while exploring a steep cliff above Waihere Bay on Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands. He extracted the heavy specimen with difficulty and brought it to the University of Otago in Dunedin, where it remained in storage for years.
The study stalled after Köhler's death because critical details about the discovery site were missing. In early 2025, his family donated his field notebooks from the expedition, providing the locality information needed to document the find properly.
Researchers described the fossil as the first known high-level predatory bony fish from Paleogene rocks in New Zealand. Professor Mike Gottfried called it among the most important fossils recovered from the country, noting its exquisite preservation and unusual features.
Emeritus Professor Daphne Lee said the notebooks enabled the team to finish the work as a tribute to Köhler, the late Professor Ewan Fordyce, and preparator Andrew Grebneff.