Port of Napier: Baseline survey for non-indenous marine species. Inglis, G. J., Gust, N., Fitridge, I., Floerl, O., Hayden, B. J., & Fenwick, G. D. Technical Report NIWA, Christchurch, March, 2006.
Port of Napier: Baseline survey for non-indenous marine species [pdf]Paper  abstract   bibtex   
Executive Summary This report describes the results of a January 2003 survey to provide a baseline inventory of native, non-indigenous and cryptogenic marine species within the Port of Napier. • The survey is part of a nationwide investigation of native and non-native marine biodiversity in 13 international shipping ports and three marinas of first entry for yachts entering New Zealand from overseas. • Sampling methods used in these surveys were based on protocols developed by theAustralian Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) for baseline surveys of non-indigenous species in ports. Modifications were made to the CRIMP protocols for use in New Zealand port conditions. • A wide range of sampling techniques was used to collect marine organisms from a range of habitats within the Port of Napier. Fouling assemblages were scraped from hard substrata by divers, benthic assemblages were sampled using a sled and benthic grabs, and a gravity corer was used to sample for dinoflagellate cysts. Mobile predators and scavengers were sampled using baited fish, crab, starfish and shrimp traps. • The distribution of sampling effort in the Port of Napier was designed to maximise the chances of detecting non-indigenous species and concentrated on high-risk locations and habitats where non-indigenous species were most likely to be found. • Organisms collected during the survey were sent to local and international taxonomic experts for identification. • A total of 199 species or higher taxa was identified from the Port of Napier survey. They consisted of 134 native species, 10 non-indigenous species, 14 cryptogenic species (those whose geographic origins are uncertain) and 41 species indeterminata (taxa for which there is insufficient taxonomic or systematic information available to allow identification to species level). • Seven species of marine organisms collected from the Port of Napier have not previously been described from New Zealand waters; two of these were newly discovered nonindigenous species (the polychaete, Spirobranchus polytrema and the hydroid Eudendrium generale), and five are considered cryptogenic. • The ten non-indigenous organisms described from the Port of Napier included representatives of six phyla. The non-indigenous species detected (ordered alphabetically by phylum, class, order, family, genus and species) were: (Annelida) Spirobranchus polytrema, Barantolla lepte, (Bryozoa) Bugula flabellata, Bugula neritina, Watersipora subtorquata, (Cnidaria) Eudendrium generale (Mollusca) Theora lubrica, (Phycophyta) Undaria pinnatifida, (Urochordata) Ciona intestinalis and Ascidiella aspersa • The only species from the Port of Napier on the New Zealand register of unwanted organisms is the Asian kelp, Undaria pinnatifida. This alga is known to now have a wide distribution in southern and eastern New Zealand. • Most non-indigenous species located in the Port are likely to have been introduced to New Zealand accidentally by international shipping or through domestic translocation or spread from other locations in New Zealand. • Approximately 60% (6 of 10 species) of NIS in the Port of Napier are likely to have been introduced in hull fouling assemblages, while 10% could have been introduced via ballast water and 30% may have been introduced by either ballast water or hull fouling vectors. • The predominance of hull fouling species in the introduced biota of the Port of Napier (as opposed to ballast water introductions) is consistent with findings from similar port baseline studies overseas.

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