Science Centres: Aquatic Biodiversity and Biosecurity

The NIWA collection holds over 100 000 containers, representing several million specimens.

The Southwest Pacific has the world’s highest species diversity for many marine invertebrate groups. NIWA holds an important representation of New Zealand’s marine biodiversity in its collections, including the internationally significant NIWA Invertebrate Collection (NIC).

NIC is crucial to natural products research

Sponges, bryozoans, sea squirts, and other organisms produce biochemicals that are anti-cancer, antibiotic, antiviral, or useful in cosmetics.

NIC improves biosecurity

There are two lines of defence in biosecurity: prevention and early recognition. Collections of known indigenous fauna are essential to determine if a particular animal is a native or alien species.

NIC informs conservation

Knowing what is indigenous, widespread, unique, or threatened is essential in identifying areas for marine reserves or assessing whether a species is threatened.

NIC is a treasure chest for science

New Zealand has a large number of unique endemic species. Many species have distinctive attributes, special habitat associations, or special ecological roles.