The Parore is often known as a mud fish, or black fish, probally because it is generally seen in small schools around muddy brackish waters such as mangrove esturies and dirty muddy creeks. Sometimes though you might see them around a reef. They generally inhabit waters no more than 10 mts (30') deep.

The Parore is generally found in the top half of the North Island.

Parore are generally a shy fish and you normally only catch a glimps of them more often than not around dawn or dusk. This is also their feeding time. At night they shelter under boulders and crevices.

The body of the parore is rather broad and is covered with moderately large scales. The mouth is small and the snout is short and blunt. They have three overlapping rows of small teeth with blunt curved tips.

They have a long dorsal fin, the front two thirds have 15 sharp spiny rays, and the remaining third of the fin has 12 soft rays, which are somewhat longer than the spiny rays.

The anal fin has three spiny rays and 11 soft rays. The caudal fin is slightly concave.

The colour is a silver grey to a browny grey on the upper sides of the body with a lighter olive colour on the belly. They also have a number of dark vertical stripes along their sides. They have a large blunt head, a large eye and sometimes have a goldern sheen around the lip area.

Parore grow around 35 - 40 cm (13" - 15") and weigh about 3kg (6lb).

The Parore are mainly herbivorous, feeding mainly on seaweeds and other marine vegetation, Though I have found shellfish, worms and crabs in the stomach contents.

Parore spawn in the summer, and the young are sometimes seen as early as late summer to early winter.