Port of Nelson: Second baseline survey for non-indenous marine species. Inglis, G. J., Gust, N., Fitridge, I., Morrisey, D. J., Floerl, O., Woods, C., Kospartov, M., Hayden, B. J., & Fenwick, G. D. Technical Report NIWA, Christchurch, June, 2006.
Port of Nelson: 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 Nelson undertaken in December 2004. 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 Nelson undertaken in January 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 Nelson, 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 Nelson. 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 andscavengers were sampled using baited fish, crab, starfish and shrimp traps. • Sampling effort was distributed in the Port of Nelson 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 193 species or higher taxa were identified in the first survey of the Port of Nelson in January 2002. They consisted of 130 native species, 13 non-indigenous species, 20 cryptogenic species (those whose geographic origins are uncertain) and 30 species indeterminata (taxa for which there is insufficient taxonomic or systematic information available to allow identification to species level). • During the repeat survey, 257 species or higher taxa were recorded, including 176 native species, 13 non-indigenous species, 32 cryptogenic species and 36 species indeterminata. Many species were common to both surveys. Around 48% of the native species, 54% of non-indigenous species, and 38% of cryptogenic species recordedduring the repeat survey were also found in the earlier survey. • The 13 non-indigenous organisms found in the repeat survey of the Port of Nelson included representatives of 5 taxanomic groups. The non-indigenous species detected were: (Annelida) Hydroides elegans; (Bryozoa) Bugula flabellata, Cryptosula pallasiana, Electra tenella, Celleporaria nodulosa, Watersipora subtorquata; (Hydrozoa) Lafoeina amirantensis, Filellum serpens?, Synthecium campylocarpum, Synthecium subventricosum; (Mollusca) Crassostrea gigas, Theora lubrica and (Macroalgae) Undaria pinnatifida. Six of these species - Hydroides elegans, Electra tenella, Filellum serpens?, Synthecium campylocarpum, Synthecium subventricosum and Undaria pinnatifida - were not recorded in the earlier baseline survey of the Port of Nelson. In addition, 6 non-indigenous species that were present in the first survey – Polydora hoplura (Annelida), Conopeum seurati, Electra angulata, Schizoporellaerrata, Anguinella palmata (Bryozoa) and Ciona intestinalis (Urochordata) – were not found during the repeat survey. • Ten species recorded in the repeat survey are new records for New Zealand waters. Two of these were newly discovered non-indigenous species (a bryozoan, Celleporaria nodulosa, and a hydroid, Lafoeina amirantensis). The others are sponges that do not correspond with existing descriptions from New Zealand or overseas and may be new to science. • The only species from the Port of Nelson 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 spread from other locations in New Zealand (including translocation by shipping). • Approximately 68 % (13 of 19 species) of NIS in the Port of Nelson are likely to have been introduced in hull fouling assemblages, 5 % (one species) via ballast water and 22 % (four species) could have been introduced by either ballast water or hull fouling vectors. One species (5%) is suspected to have arrived on drift plastic. • The predominance of hull fouling species in the introduced biota of the Port of Nelson (as opposed to ballast water introductions) is consistent with findings from similar port baseline studies overseas.

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