New relationship a boost to biodiversity and biosecurity research
Valued kai moana reef back from the brink
New Zealand’s coastline rich in ‘tasty’ red alga
Sea squirts come under the microscope
A new milestone in marine biodiversity
Desperately seeking tunicate specialists
New sponge posters at Kelly Tarlton’s
Sorting out the stoneflies from the mayflies
Dr Seddon Bennington (Chief Executive, Te Papa) and Dr Rick Pridmore (Chief Executive, NIWA) sign the new agreement which will provide stronger research and public education links between the two organisations.
RV Tangaroa
On 22 May two of New Zealand’s strongest aquatic biodiversity research providers – Te Papa and NIWA – established an important working relationship. This is a significant development, especially given the growing need for more integrative research and public education on a range of environmental issues.
The microscopic conchocelis phase of a Porphyra species.
The outgoing tide has flattened this oily-looking Porphyra blade.
What do karengo (a Maori taonga), nori (the wrapping around Japanese sushi), and laverbread (a Welsh delicacy) have in common? The answer is the red alga Porphyra. Different species of this red alga grow in the intertidal zone all around the world from the Arctic and Antarctica through to the tropics.
Clavelina sp. An undescribed species collected from the Three Kings Islands. Individuals are connected to each other by stolons to form a social colony. (photo: Sean Handley)
The common colonial sea squirt Botrylloides leachi. (Photo: Mike Page)
Sea tulips are tough leathery ascidians that form clusters of tulips supported on long stalks. They are common in southern New Zealand and in the Chatham Islands. (photo:Malcolm Francis)
The stalked ascidian, Pycnoclavella kottae, forms large clusters in dark archways and under overhangs.
At last! For the first time New Zealand’s entire thecate hydroid fauna has been published in a single illustrated monograph through NIWA’s National Centre for Aquatic Biodiversity & Biosecurity. This is an important milestone in our understanding of New Zealand’s marine biodiversity.
Hydroids are mostly colonial invertebrates, with tiny polyps whose nettle cells sting and capture small plankton. During their life cycle many species produce medusae, a sexual phase that resembles a tiny jellyfish.
A new series of five posters on marine sponges is now on display in the link corridor of Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World in Auckland. The posters, which were produced by NIWA’s National Centre for Aquatic Biodiversity & Biosecurity, celebrate the life of New Zealand’s sponges. Reading them, you discover what a sponge is, how they reproduce, how to classify them, and other amazing facts.
There are many large cats-eyes on the reef.
Oyster shield around the lava reef at Nga Kui e Toro.
Oxidation ponds being built off Puketutu Island.
Over the past 40 years the people of Makaurau Marae, Ihumatao, in Mangere witnessed the disappearance of their traditional kai moana reef Nga Kuia e Toru. However, recent developments have changed the environment and renewed hope that the reef may soon return.
The fire salp Pyrosoma spinosum.
A swarm of zooplankton, mostly salps, off the Poor Knights Islands. (photo: Malcolm Francis)
Cyclosalpa sp. These colonial forms have been photographed but never reported in New Zealand waters. (photo: Malcolm Francis)
An international symposium Species 2000: New Zealand was held in Wellington in 2000 to review and inventory New Zealand’s total biodiversity as a contribution towards documenting global biodiversity.
Have you ever had difficulty distinguishing your respiratory lobes from your sub-mental sclerites? Wanted to know the difference between erect and sprawling emergent macrophytes?
