Port of Lyttelton: Second baseline survey for non-indenous marine species. Inglis, G. J., Gust, N., Fitridge, I., Floerl, O., Woods, C., Kospartov, M., Hayden, B. J., & Fenwick, G. D. Technical Report NIWA, Christchurch, May, 2008.
Port of Lyttelton: Second baseline survey for non-indenous marine species [pdf]Paper  abstract   bibtex   
Executive summary • This report describes the results of a repeat port baseline survey of the Port of Lyttelton undertaken in November 2004. The survey provides a second inventory of native, non indigenous and cryptogenic marine species within the port and compares the biota with that recorded during an earlier port baseline survey of the Port of Lyttelton undertaken in March 2002. • 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. • To allow a direct comparison between the initial baseline survey and the resurvey of the Port of Lyttelton, the survey used the same methodologies and sampled the same sites used in the initial baseline survey. To improve the description of the biota of the port, some additional survey sites were added during the repeat survey. • Sampling methods used in both surveys were based on protocols developed by the Australian Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) for baseline surveys of non-indigenous species (NIS) in ports. Modifications were made to the CRIMP protocols for use in New Zealand port conditions. These are described in more detail in the body of the report. • A wide range of sampling techniques was used to collect marine organisms from habitats within the Port of Lyttelton. 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. • Sampling effort was distributed in the Port of Lyttelton according to priorities identified in the CRIMP protocols, which are designed to maximise the chances of detecting non-indigenous species. Most effort was 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 245 species or higher taxa were identified in the first survey of the Port of Lyttelton in March 2002. They consisted of 147 native species, 18 non-indigenous species, 38 cryptogenic species (those whose geographic origins are uncertain) and 42 species indeterminata (taxa for which there is insufficient taxonomic or systematic information available to allow identification to species level). • During the repeat survey, 269 species or higher taxa were recorded, including 151 native species, 23 non-indigenous species, 55 cryptogenic species and 40 species indeterminata. Many species were common to both surveys. Around 57% of the native species, 61% of non-indigenous species, and 44% of cryptogenic species recorded during the repeat survey were also found in the earlier survey. • The 23 non-indigenous organisms found in the repeat survey of the Port of Lyttelton included representatives of 8 major taxonomic groups. The non-indigenous species detected were: (Annelida) Polydora hoplura, Spirobranchus polytrema; (Bryozoa) Bugula flabellata, B. neritina, Conopeum seurati, Cryptosula pallasiana, Watersipora subtorquata, (Cnidaria) Monotheca pulchella, Symplectoscyphus subdichotomus; (Crustacea) Apocorophium acutum, Crassicorophium bonnellii, Jassa slatteryi, Monocorophium acherusicum, M. sextonae; (Mollusca) Theora lubrica; (Macroalgae) Griffithsia crassiuscula, Polysiphonia brodiaei, Polysiphonia senticulosa, Undaria pinnatifida; (Porifera) Halisarca dujardini; (Urochordata) Ascidiella aspersa, Ciona intestinalis, and Styela clava. Nine of these species - Polydora hoplura, Spirobranchus polytrema, Monotheca pulchella, Symplectoscyphus subdichotomus, Crassicorophium bonnellii, Polysiphonia senticulosa, Halisarca dujardini, Ascidiella aspersa, and Styela clava - were not recorded in the earlier baseline survey of the Port of Lyttelton. In addition, three non-indigenous species that were present in the first survey – (Bryozoa) Tricellaria inopinata; (Crustacea) Cancer gibbosulus and (Macroalgae) Polysiphonia subtilissima– were not found during the repeat survey. • Three species recorded in the repeat survey were new records for New Zealand waters. Two of these were newly discovered non-indigenous species (an amphipod, Crassicorophium bonnellii and an ascidian, Styela clava). The other was a newly discovered sponge (Haliclona new sp. 17). • Two species from the Port of Lyttelton are on the New Zealand register of unwanted organisms: the Asian kelp, Undaria pinnatifida, and the club-shaped ascidian, Styela clava. Undaria is now widely distributed 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 spread from other locations in New Zealand (including translocation by shipping). • Approximately 78 % (18 of 23 species) of NIS in the Port of Lyttelton are likely to have been introduced in hull fouling assemblages, 4 % (1 species) via ballast water and 18 % (4 species) could 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 Lyttelton (as opposed to ballast water introductions) is consistent with findings from similar port baseline studies overseas

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