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3.4 Benthic Invertebrates, Algae,
and Plants
The workshop group with expertise in marine invertebrates,
algae, and plants arguably faced the greatest challenge in trying
to summarise and highlight the biodiversity of New Zealand’s
oceans. The challenge stems from the fact that invertebrates
make up 33 of the world’s 34 animal phyla and have more species
than all other domains and kingdoms combined (Ministry for the
Environment 1997). There are an estimated 15,300-16,400 marine
invertebrates in New Zealand, of which 7,462 have been described
(D. Gordon, personal communication, March 2004).
For protista, algae, fungi, and plants, there are estimated to
be 17,900-32,900 species, of which 2,700 have been described
(D. Gordon, personal communication, March 2004). Many
marine invertebrates, algae and plants are so small, or live in such
obscure or isolated habitats that their existence has so far gone
unnoticed. Sampling efforts are regularly uncovering new species.
At the current rate of new species descriptions, it will take at least
90 years to complete an inventory of the New Zealand marine
biota 6 , not including unicellular organisms (D. Gordon, personal
communication, March 2004).
Marine invertebrates, algae, and plants occupy all marine habitats,
from the sea floor to the sea surface, with the photosynthetic
organisms restricted to the euphotic zone. The marine scientists
at the workshop concentrated on benthic invertebrates and plants
that dwell on, near, or are attached to the sea floor because their
expertise centred on the benthic environment. During several work
sessions the participants identified 24 important areas for marine
biodiversity in New Zealand. While the group was able to delineate
certain locations that are known to host special invertebrate, and
algal, or plant communities, other important features of the marine
environment were more difficult to represent geographically. These
features include habitats such as kelp forests, mangrove forests, and
rock wall suspension feeding assemblages, which are critical places
for marine biodiversity, but have patchy distributions around the
country. Participants decided to include these features as a list of
“special habitats”, which are represented in the last nine entries of
this section, although all known locations for such habitats are not
depicted on the map.
Contributors: Peter Batson, Dennis Gordon, Ken Grange, Michelle
Kelly, Daphne Lee, Alison MacDiarmid, Patricia Mather, Wendy
Nelson, Mike Page, and Stephanie Turner.
6
Including the Protozoa (and prokaryotes) the task of inventorying New
Zealand’s marine biota could take up to 400 years (D. Gordon, personal
communication, March 2004).
Bladder kelp
©2004 DOC, Te Papa Atawhai
BIODIVERSITY – NEW ZEALAND’S MARINE ECOREGION ■ 47