NIWA Invertebrate Collection

08/05/2024

Who wore it better? Celebs at the Met Gala or these fabulous sea slugs? 🤔😍

Fashion forward sea slugs and nudibranchs rock vibrant colours and bold patterns on the underwater catwalk every day. Who needs a designer outfit when you’ve got frilly gills? 💅💃🏼

Learn more about the sea slugs of New Zealand, from woolly sea hares to clown nudibranchs, in our Super Sea Slugs guide here ➡️ https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/identification-guides/super-sea-slugs

07/05/2024

Real-life Pokémon? 👀

Not quite. Spiny sea slaters!

They look like trilobite imposters, but these creatures aren’t related to the extinct critters at all. They’re a type of isopod (Brucerolis genus) that live in the deep sea. Check out those eyes! 😍

Measuring about 2-5cm long, spiny sea slaters are scavengers, searching the seafloor for tasty morsels. Equipped with spiky armour they’d be an unpleasant mouthful for a fish! Sea ya slater predators. 🛡️

They’re commonly found in depths between 490 and 1,700m along the eastern margin of New Zealand. 🌊

These ones were found earlier this year by our team onboard RV Tangaroa for an Ocean Census voyage to the Bounty Trough to discover new species. 🚢

📸 Rebekah Parsons-King

01/05/2024

Are you new here? 👀🤨

NIWA marine invertebrate systematist Rachael Peart has added another new species of amphipod to her growing list of over 100 discoveries. 📋

Rachael and University of Hamburg colleague, Anne-Nina Lörz, recently found the specimen in the NIWA Invertebrate Collection and identified it as possibly new to science. 💡

The amphipod had been collected from 4,159m in the waters off northern New Zealand a few years prior. 🌊

After taking a closer look and comparing it to other species, Rachael and Anna confirmed their suspicion, they had discovered a new species. 🎉 Rachael named it Amathillopsis lowry in recognition of her late PhD supervisor Dr Jim Lowry.

“Amphipods occur in almost every environment around the world and there are over 10,000 known species, so finding new ones isn’t uncommon,” says Rachael, “but it is always exciting when we do.” 👏

See more here ➡️https://media.australian.museum/media/dd/documents/1885_complete.9102530.pdf

📸 Top: Male Amathillopsis lowry, Bottom: Female Amathillopsis lowry, NIWA.

19/12/2023

Aotearoa New Zealand’s marine biodiversity checklist has been updated in the latest NIWA biodiversity memoir, with an increase of 3,630 known living species since the turn of the century. 🙌

Nodding animals, pandoras, goblet worms, acorn worms, horsehair worms, tardigrades and opalinids – these are just some of the fabulous names of our marine life! 🐟🐚

The Marine Biota of Aotearoa New Zealand publication represents our current knowledge of marine biodiversity, including sponges, corals, hydroids, worms, molluscs, crustaceans, sea stars, fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and algae. The total number of known living species in this update is 18,494, a 24 per cent increase since the last update. 🐬🦀

The publication was edited by: Michelle Kelly, Sadie Mills, Marianna Terezow, Carina Sim-Smith & Wendy Nelson, and was made possible thanks to 67 experts at NIWA, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland MuseumTāmaki Paenga Hira, the University of Otago Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, GNS Science Te Pū Ao, as well as overseas institutions and independent taxonomists. 👏

We will be sharing more on this exciting update in the new year, including opportunities to order a hard copy! 📚

In the meantime, access the digital version here ➡️ https://niwa.co.nz/biodiversity-memoir-136-the-marine-biota-of-aotearoa-new-zealand

29/11/2023

Shells are so last season. 💅💁

Here’s a hermit crab with a difference. Unlike its shell-dwelling counterparts, this fashion-forward hermit crab has a zoanthid on its back.

The hermit crab initially picks up a shell to live in, but at some stage, the anemone-like zoanthid settles on the shell and grows to envelop the crab. 🦀

Eventually, the zoanthid takes on the role of the shell, and the crab no longer has to worry about risky shell swaps. 🐚

The zoanthid gets carried around, taking advantage of food along the way, and its stinging tentacles provide extra protection for the hermit crab, win-win!

📸 Chazz Marriott

08/11/2023

Walking on the beach and you come across these… 😲

What are they? Gooseneck barnacles! Unlike the barnacles glued to the rocky shore, these barnacles have a stalk and are pelagic, meaning they live in the open ocean. 🌊

They attach themselves to all sorts of floating objects such as logs, buoys, rubbish, macroalgae, boats and turtles, and are often washed up on beaches after storms. 🐢

Beachgoers encountering recently washed-up gooseneck barnacles might see their cirri, or ‘legs’, moving in and out of their shells.

They use these feathery filaments to filter feed – catching plankton and other small food particles floating in the water.

Have you come across gooseneck barnacles before? 🏖️

📸 Pelagic gooseneck barnacles washed up on Gemstone Beach, Te Waewae Bay – Katie Cook.

30/10/2023

‘Cause baby you’re a firebrick. 🎆🎶

Meet today’s star, the firebrick sea star, Asterodiscides truncates. These funky starfish are brightly coloured in shades of purple, yellow, orange and red. ⭐

The top of the sea star is covered in lumps and bumps of different sizes called tubercles.

Like other starfish, they have water-powered tube feet on their underside that they use to move around the seafloor and to pass food along to their central mouth.

They live in subtidal zones around northern New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands and southern Australia, and have been found in depths of 60–250 metres. 🌊

📸 Rob Stewart

16/10/2023

Here’s a sea slug to lighten up your Monday – Janolus ignis, ignis meaning fire! 🔥

These fiery sea slugs are nocturnal. During the day, they hide amongst the bushy, red bryozoans they feed on, emerging at night to nibble on the branches. 🌖

Endemic to New Zealand, they can be found in subtidal zones around the country from 8–25 metres. Some can get as big as 5cm but most are usually 2.5–3.5cm. 🌊

Learn more about the sea slugs found in New Zealand in our guide here ➡️ https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/marine-identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/super-sea-slugs

📸 Luca Davenport

18/08/2023

A database holding information on more than 700 shallow-water seafloor invertebrates, such as snails, crabs, and worms, is now available. 🗃️

The New Zealand Trait Database is the first of its kind in Aotearoa and includes information on everything from the animals’ feeding method and body shape, to the ways they move and mix the sediment they live in. 🦀 🐚

Creating it was no easy feat! NIWA marine ecologist, Orlando Lam-Gordillo, led the effort, scouring hundreds of pieces of scientific literature and biological collections to gather and compile the information. 👏

The database will be a useful tool to help increase our understanding of seafloor ecosystem functioning and how it might respond to environmental change.

Read the full story here 👉 https://niwa.co.nz/news/new-creature-catalogue-compiled-to-aid-conservation

📸 Orlando Lam-Gordillo

14/08/2023

The king of prickly! 👑

This little critter is a juvenile prickly king crab (Paralomis zealandica). It is a member of the family Lithodidae, a group of deep-sea crustaceans. 👑

Like lots of other king crabs, the prickly king crab is heavily armoured with sharp spines all over its body. 🌵

They aren’t the largest king crabs in New Zealand, that title is held by Lithodes aotearoa, which can have a leg span up to 1.3 metres! Paralomis zealandica can reach up to 13cm across its back. 🦀

They can be found in southern New Zealand waters from the Chatham Rise down to the Campbell and Bounty Plateaus from 254–1212 metres, but normally from 550–650 metres.

Did you know king crabs are all right-handed? 😮 The right claw is usually much bigger than the left, and the larger claw is usually used for crushing while the other is used for cutting!

📸 Rob Stewart

08/05/2023

Gems from the deep. 💎⁣
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Amphipods are a group of small crustaceans that live in all aquatic environments and even in some terrestrial ones too. ⁣
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⬇️ These ones are part of the Epimeriidae family and are found in New Zealand and Antarctic waters at varying depths. 🦐⁣
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These little critters come in a range of colours and many are covered in long spines. It’s not known exactly what the spines do but it’s thought they may offer protection from predators by making the animal harder to see or simply by making it unpleasant to eat. 🤕⁣
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The prickly white amphipod shown in the middle left of the picture lives inside sponges and uses its spines to camouflage itself within its squishy home.⁣
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Worldwide there are over 10,000 amphipod species, with over 550 species known from New Zealand, including the sandhoppers you see at the beach! 🏖️⁣
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Most amphipods are only about 1cm long, but there are giant ones, up to 30cm long, living in the deepest trenches of the ocean. 😮⁣

12/04/2023

A 35-million-year-old fossilised sponge from New Zealand has been named as one of the top 10 new marine species of 2022.

Latrunculia (Latrunculia) tutu, more affectionately known as the ballerina sponge, has a microskeleton that resembles the skirt of a ballerina. 🩰

Only recently discovered, the specimen was described by NIWA scientists as part of their 2022 Biodiversity Memoir.

It was selected out of 2,000 newly described species for the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) annual top 10 list, joining the likes of Satan's Mud Dragon, the Japanese Retweet Mite and the Fluffy Sponge Crab.

Read the full story here 👇

A fossilised sponge from New Zealand has been named as one of the top 10 new marine species of 2022.

29/03/2023

Ascidians and anemones and jellyfish, oh my! 😍

We’ve just updated three of our fabulous identification guides with additional species to help you identify creatures you might come across while out and about on our coasts.

🔫 Awesome Ascidians now has 79 species pages to help you identify the colourful sea squirts of New Zealand: https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/marine-identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/seasquirt-id-guide

🎆 Adorable Anemones contains descriptions and images of 24 species of anemone from around Aotearoa: https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/marine-identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/Adorable-anemones

🎐 Six additional species have been added to the Jiggling Jellyfish guide, helping you to identify the stingers from the gentle jellies of our coasts: https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/marine-identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/Jiggling-Jellyfish

Happy ID’ing! 🕵️

19/01/2023

Have you ever wondered what those small slimy clumps of clear jelly are in the sea that makes it feel like you are taking a dip in a lumpy jelly soup?

You may be thinking these are jellyfish, fish eggs or plankton but these slimy blobs are more taxonomically closely related to us than jellyfish and are known as salps. Heey *distant* cousin 👋

Despite looking rather like a jellyfish, salps are Tunicates, a classification of animals also known as sea squirts. Tunicates come under the larger umbrella of Chordates, which includes all animals with spinal cords – yes us too!

If you’re baffled by where a small jelly-like creature like this is hiding its spine, do not be alarmed! The primitive spinal cord is only present in larval forms. 👀

Whilst they may just look like simple gelatinous blobs, the humble salp has a complex life cycle. Alternating between sexual and asexual stages, switching between being male and female, and even producing clones! 🐑🐑🐑🐑

There are at least 48 species of these gelatinous blobs, 14 of which are found in Aotearoa’s waters.

Salps are important creatures as they graze on tiny phytoplankton, and produce lots of waste that can quickly sink to the deep ocean, effectively removing carbon from the sea surface. ♻

Who has swum in salpy soup this summer?

📸 Lana Young, Alex Connolly, Jessica Rowley

21/12/2022

Oooh what it is that? 👀

Spending time on the seashore this summer? Check out our great series of online guides to help you identify the creatures you might come across. 🐚🦀

We have guides for anemones, starfish, crabs, jellyfish and many more. Even a guide on sea slugs where you’ll find this psychedelic little dude, the Verco’s nudibranch. 🌈😍

Find them here ➡️ https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/resources/marine-identification-guides-and-fact-sheets

📸 Rachel Boschen

15/12/2022

Soak this up! 🧽 Our sponge e-guide has been updated with 11 new glass sponge species. and six new species from Fiordland. 👏

Splendid Sponges is a fully illustrated guide to the most commonly encountered sponges of New Zealand and is designed to help you identify these creatures when you’re out and about. 🌊

Each species has its own page packed with information, stunning images and icons to simplify identification. Check it out here 👉 https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/marine-identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/Splendid-Sponges

29/11/2022

Are you a fan of sea spiders? Yay or nay?! 🙋 🙅⁣

16/11/2022

A study of New Zealand and Antarctic marine sponges has revealed 15 species that are new to science. 🙌 More here 👉https://niwa.co.nz/news/discovery-of-over-a-dozen-new-sponge-species

In the latest NIWA Biodiversity Memoir, researchers examined and registered over 250 sponge specimens in the family Latrunculiidae, discovering 14 new species and 1 new fossil species.

09/11/2022

We’re excited to announce that our latest e-guide ‘Beloved Barnacles’ is now available on our website. 🥳

Think of crustaceans and you might think crabs and crayfish. But did you know the barnacles you find on the rocky shore are crustaceans too? 🦀 😮

The ones found stuck to rocks and other hard surfaces are known as acorn barnacles while the ones with a stalk are known as gooseneck or stalked barnacles. You might have seen stalked barnacles washed up on the beach!

There are even some parasitic ones that live embedded in the skin of whales and fish or latched on to the reproductive organs of other crustaceans. 🐳 🐟

Learn all about barnacles in our new guide designed to help you recognise common barnacles found in Aotearoa New Zealand. Check it out here 👉 https://niwa.co.nz/oceans/marine-identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/beloved-barnacles

📸 Sadie Mills, Chris Woods & Karen Pratt, Project Reef South Taranaki

13/10/2022

Celebrating octopus because they’re tenta-cool! 🐙

Happy World Octopus Day! 🐙

You probably haven’t spotted one of these wheke at the rock pools before! 🏖️

It’s a deepwater warty octopus, or taniwha octopus. They live at depths ranging from 450 to 1,500 metres. 😮

This one was found on the Chatham Rise, a biodiversity hotspot known for its weird and wonderful creatures. It’s only about 5cm tall. 🥹

Pop quiz: Do you know how many hearts an octopus has? 1,2,3 or 4? ❤️

📷 Owen Anderson

28/08/2022

Our giant sea slater was a big hit with students from Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu - The Correspondence School last week. 🤩

NIWA Invertebrate Collection (NIC) Manager Sadie Mills gave the pre-school children and their families an online tour of the NIC and introduced them to some of the shallow water and deep-sea marine creatures held in the collection. 🦀🐚🦑

Te Kura’s Ann Stewart and Jane Robertson facilitated the online session which was attended by 11 families and teachers at the school.

The children had some great questions including what coral skeletons are made of and how sea stars eat their food! 💭

23/08/2022

This fintastic photo will brighten your day. 🤩⁣
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A small triplefin has found the perfect spot to rest in amongst the jewel anemones on a shipwreck in Northland.⁣
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This picture was a winner in our staff photo competition last year. We can’t wait to sea the winners of this year’s competition. We’ll be shore to share them with you! 🏆⁣
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📸 Irene Middleton⁣

16/08/2022

Have you heard of the Gorgon's head basket star? ⭐

Meet the Medusa of the deep sea. 🐍⠀

The Gorgon's head basket star, a type of brittle star. ⭐

Basket stars have five arms that branch off into about 5,000 bushy arm tips which they use to capture prey. When disturbed, they curl into a tight ball.

They can get big, growing up to 70cm across. You won’t stumble upon one at your local rock pool though, in New Zealand they’re found from about 200 – 1,700 metres deep. 🌊

Basket stars are pretty famous in the science world. In 1818, it was thought there was no life in the deep sea. That was before British explorer Sir John Ross accidentally hauled a basket star up from more than 1,600 metres at Baffin Bay off Greenland, proving life was possible in the deepest parts of the ocean. 🔍

📸 Dave Bowden & Dave Allen

04/08/2022

Check out this little crab. ⬇️🦀

They call me what? 😲

A wrinkled swimming crab. 🦀

Don’t be crabby little dude, it makes sense when your species name is Liocarcinus corrugatus. It translates to corrugated and alludes to the wrinkled appearance of the crab’s back.

This critter belongs to the swimming crab family. They are easily recognised by their flat, paddle-shaped back legs, which are used for swimming and as spades to help them burrow into the soft seafloor sediment.

Together, with their streamlined flattened bodies, the paddles make these crabs clawsome swimmers that can move around the water at high speed. 🏊

The rest of the time they hide half-buried in the sediment waiting to ambush and pinch their prey.

They can be found almost worldwide, from tidal flats and rock pools to about 140 metres deep. This one was collected from around 60 metres in the Bay of Islands. 🌊

📸 Peter Marriott