Spatial classifications of the environment have previously been used to characterise biodiversity and to facilitate management planning at large spatial scales. Such classifications are more likely to be adopted if they can demonstrate integration of real patterns in habitats or biotic assemblages, in addition to environment. A previous classification used Gradient Forest analysis to derive 30 classes based on demersal fish as...

Twenty‐four blennies collected in east Auckland, New Zealand, were identified as the Australian oyster blenny, Omobranchus anolius using taxonomic and molecular characters. This species appears to have been introduced recently to New Zealand. Auckland oyster blennies mainly inhabited dead oyster shells in water pooled under intertidal boulders on mudflats. Specimens ranged from small juveniles to large mature males, suggesting...

The Asian goby, Acentrogobius pflaumii (Bleeker, 1853), is reported from New Zealand waters for the first time. It was collected by beach seine in 2001–02 from muddy substrata in the upper reaches of the Waitemata and Whangapoua Harbours. We suggest that A. pflaumii has been introduced to New Zealand, probably in ship ballast water. It may have arrived directly from its native range in the north‐west Pacific Ocean, or indirect...

Species assemblages in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, and the factors affecting them, were determined from abundance data collected from 1381 trawl tows by two research vessels during 1964–97. Correspondence Analysis and Ward's Cluster Analysis were used to identify assemblages, and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) to explore the relationships between the assemblages and depth, sediment type, latitude, longitude, and ye...

Rough and smooth skates ( Dipturus nasutus (Banks 1841) and/), innominatus (Garrick & Paul 1974)) were aged by counting growth bands on X‐rays of thick sections of vertebral centra. Band counts were imprecise, but there was no between‐reader bias. Age estimates were not validated. The oldest rough skate was 9 years old, but few were more than 6 years old. Females may live longer than males. The combined sexes von Bertalanffy g...

A litter of eight near‐term shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque 1810) embryos is described from a 317.5 cm total length (TL) female caught off Hawke Bay, south‐east North Island, New Zealand on 5 February 1999. The embryos (3 males and 5 females) were 67.2–77.0 cm TL. Embryo length, condition, hepato‐somatic indices, and mass of yolk in their stomachs all indicate they were close to birth. This is the first shortfin ma...

Five fish species (Platax teira, Abudefduf vaigiensis, Chromis flavomaculata, Coris dorsomacula , and Aluterus scriptus) are recorded from New Zealand for the first time, and five species (Forcipiger flavissimus, Chromis vanderbilti, Chrysiptera rapanui, Parma kermadecensis , and Thalassoma lutescens) are newly recorded from mainland New Zealand. Five other species that have been reported previously in the popular press, or by...

During the period March 1985 to January 1997, 3950 school sharks, Galeorhinus galeus (L), were tagged, mostly opportunistically during other research activities. Up to July 1997, 207 sharks had been recaptured. The best recovery rates were from sharks tagged with internal (8.8%) and dart (6.5%) tags and first caught by line methods (22%). The maximum distance travelled was 4940 km, the maximum time at liberty was 3505 days (9....

School shark, Galeorhinus galeus (family Triakidae), are fished commercially throughout New Zealand, and estimates of their growth rate, age at maturity, and longevity are required for fishery management. We aged school shark from X‐rays of thin vertebral sections, but many sections were unclear and ageing precision was low. Nevertheless, there was no between‐reader bias, and growth curves derived from length‐at‐age data appea...

Growth rate estimates were obtained for elephantfish using length‐frequency and tag‐recapture data from the east coast of South Island during 1966–88. Elephantfish hatch from egg cases at about 10 cm fork length (FL) during May‐July. Females grow faster than males after their first year and growth is fastest in summer. In 1966–68, elephantfish in Pegasus Bay grew faster than in Canterbury Bight, resulting in modal length diffe...