Port of Taranaki: 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 Taranaki: 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 Taranaki undertaken in March 2005. The survey provides a second inventory of native, non indigenous and cryptogenic marine species within the port and compares the biota with the results of an earlier port baseline survey of the Port of Taranaki undertaken in April 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 Taranaki, the survey used the same methodologies, occurred in the same season, 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 Taranaki. 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 Taranaki 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 267 species or higher taxa were identified in the first survey of the Port of Taranaki in April 2002. They consisted of 178 native species, 14 non-indigenous species, 34 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). • During the repeat survey, 269 species or higher taxa were recorded, including 180 native species, 13 non-indigenous species, 27 cryptogenic species and 49 speciesindeterminata. Many species were common to both surveys. Around 54% of the native species, 61% of non-indigenous species, and 48% of cryptogenic species recorded during the repeat survey were also found in the earlier survey. • The 13 non-indigenous organisms found in the repeat survey of the Port of Taranaki included representatives of 6 major taxonomic groups. The non-indigenous species detected were: (Annelida) Euchone limnicola, Barantolla lepte; (Bryozoa) Bugula flabellata, Bugula neritina, Cryptosula pallasiana, Watersipora subtorquata; (Cnidaria) Monotheca pulchella, Amphisbetia maplestonei; (Crustacea) Monocorophium sextonae; (Mollusca) Crassostrea gigas, Theora lubrica; (Macroalgae) Griffithsia crassiuscula, and Undaria pinnatifida. Five of these species - Euchone limnicola, Monotheca pulchella, Amphisbetia maplestonei, Monocorophium sextonae, Undaria pinnatifida - were not recorded in the earlier baseline survey of the Port of Taranaki. In addition, six non-indigenous species that were present in the first survey - Bugula stolonifera, Tricellaria inopinata, Watersipora arcuata, Eudendriumcapillare, Polysiphonia sertularioides and Halisarca dujardini – were not found during the repeat survey. • Eleven species recorded in the repeat survey of Taranaki had not been described from New Zealand waters prior to the baseline surveys. One of these was an indigenous species (the hydroid Amphisbetia maplestonei). The remaining 10 species do not correspond with existing species descriptions from New Zealand or overseas and may be new to science. • The only species from the Port of Taranaki 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, but was recorded for the first time from Taranaki during the repeat baseline survey of this port. • 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 61 % (8 of 13 species) of NIS in the Port of Taranaki are likely to have been introduced in hull fouling assemblages, 8 % (1 species) via ballast water and 31% (four 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 Taranaki (as opposed to ballast water introductions) is consistent with findings from similar port baseline studies overseas.

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