Port of Wellington: Second baseline survey for non-indenous marine species. Inglis, G. J., Gust, N., Fitridge, I., Morrisey, D., Floerl, O., Kospartov, M., & Hayden, B. J. Technical Report NIWA, Christchurch, May, 2008.
Port of Wellington: 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 Wellington undertaken in February 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 Wellington undertaken in November / December 2001. • 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 Wellington, 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 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 Wellington. 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 Wellington 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 325 species or higher taxa were identified in the first survey of the Port of Wellington in November / December 2001. They consisted of 225 native species, 13 non-indigenous species (NIS), 36 cryptogenic species (those whose geographic origins are uncertain) and 51 species indeterminata (taxa for which there is insufficient taxonomic or systematic information available to allow identification to species level). • During the repeat survey, 303 species or higher taxa were recorded, including 196 native species, 13 non-indigenous species, 48 cryptogenic species and 46 species indeterminata. Many species were common to both surveys. Around 64 % of the native species, 69 % of non-indigenous species, and 42 % 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 Wellington included representatives of 11 major taxonomic groups. The non-indigenous species detected were: (Annelida) Spirobranchus polytrema, Polydora hoplura; (Bryozoa) Bugula flabellata, Cryptosula pallasiana, Cyclicopora longipora, Watersipora subtorquata; (Cnidaria) Eudendrium generale, Monotheca pulchella, Sertularia marginata; (Crustacea) Monocorophium acherusicum; (Mollusca) Theora lubrica; (Macroalgae) Griffithsia crassiuscula, and Undaria pinnatifida. Four of these species - Eudendrium generale, Monotheca pulchella, Sertularia marginata, and Monocorophium acherusicum - were not recorded in the earlier baseline survey of the Port of Wellington. In addition, four non-indigenous species that were present in the first survey – (Annelida) Dipolydora armata, (Cnidaria) Eudendrium capillare, (Crustacea) Cancer gibbosulus and (Porifera) Halisarca dujardini – were not found during the repeat survey. • Eleven species recorded in the repeat survey were (initially) new records for New Zealand waters. These include one non-indigenous species (the hydroid Eudendrium generale), ten cryptogenic sponges (Adocia new sp. 1, Adocia new sp. 7, Chalinula new sp. 1, Chalinula new sp. 2, Dactylia new sp. 1, Haliclona new sp. 1, Haliclona new sp. 2, Haliclona new sp. 3, Haliclona new sp. 11 and Haliclona new sp. 16). • One species from the Port of Wellington is on the New Zealand register of unwanted organisms: the Asian kelp, Undaria pinnatifida. This species 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 through domestic translocationor spread from other locations in New Zealand. • Approximately 77 % (10 of 13 species) of NIS in the Port of Wellington are likely to have been introduced in hull fouling assemblages, 8 % (1 species) via ballast water and 15 % (2 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 Wellington (as opposed to ballast water introductions) is consistent with findings from similar port baseline studies overseas

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