Turbot ( Colistium nudipinnis (Waite, 1910)) fingerlings reared from a single batch of eggs during the 1998 breeding season were examined by histopathology during a routine health assessment. Fish exhibiting pigment abnormalities such as brown coloration, extensive ambicoloration, or hypo‐melanisation of the ocular surface were significantly smaller, and had a significantly higher prevalence of kidney lesions and the ciliate T...

The stream catchment containing the tailings dam complex at the Macraes mine, east Otago, New Zealand has three chemically distinct water types. ( 1) Natural groundwater has pH beween 6 and 8, and sulphate levels locally elevated to 30 ppm. The total carbonate/calcium (Ca) ratio is c. 2, consistent with carbonic acid dissolution of basement schist calcite. Sodium (Na) is strongly elevated over chloride, and these levels are do...

Current meter data from the coastal ocean at Sydney, south‐eastern Australia, were analysed to seek evidence of a response to the prevailing summer sea breeze. A response to the sea breeze was found in the currents. This is significant since the magnitude of the sea breeze was small by comparison with winds associated with large‐scale pressure systems and the East Australian Current. Responses were determined by analysing shor...

We present revised estimates of the instantaneous natural mortality rate of recruited (legal sized) Foveaux Strait dredge oysters ( Ostrea chilensis , Philippi, 1845) for the years 1974–86. A mark‐return experiment was analysed, assuming constant rate of fishing (and hence sampling) over 6 months of the year (i.e., the period of the fishing season). The natural mortality between 1974 and 1986 of recruited oysters increased fro...

The swimming performance of Australasian glass eels Anguilla australis Richardson and Anguilla reinhardtii Steindachner was measured within an hydraulic flume over a range of water velocities. Individual swimming performances were characterised as either maximum sustained, steady prolonged, rapid prolonged, or burst. The maximum sustained swimming speeds for A. australis (mean total length (MTL) = 54.2 mm) and A. reinhardtii (...

We evaluated the population genetic structures (allozyme variation) of Chaetocorophium lucas i (Hurley 1954) Karaman 1979 and Paracoro‐phium excavatum (Thomson 1884) Stebbing 1899 (Amphipoda: Crustacea) from the North Island and South Island of New Zealand. Individuals of C. lucasi were found in both freshwater and estuarine habitats, whereas P. excavatum was restricted to estuarine sites. Allele frequencies showed significant...

A spawning site of Galaxias brevipinnis Giinther was located in a New Zealand stream for the first time. It was at the edge of a riffle and only partially submerged. The habitat used for spawning matched that described for G. brevipinnis in Australia. Spawning was estimated to have occurred between late April and early May and the eggs hatched in late May. The species of fish spawning was identified by rearing the eggs through...

The reproductive cycle of the abundant intertidal limpet Cellana ornata (Dillwyn 1817) was examined over 19 months, covering two breeding periods, on a rocky intertidal platform in southern New Zealand. A gonad index was calculated, and histological sections were used to count the numbers of mature and immature eggs present. Fecundity was estimated using counts of eggs before and after spawning. To determine any variation betw...

Cape Rodney is a large headland that protrudes 3–4 km into deep water in the Hauraki Gulf and separates the Mangawhai‐Pakiri and Omaha littoral cells. Detailed swath mapping of seabed sediments around Cape Rodney was carried out using by side‐scan sonar and ground‐truthed by SCUBA, grab sampling, and video. Despite the barrier imposed by the headland two pathways of sand transport around the headland, separated by the topograp...

Information on wave statistics, seasonal characteristics, and their distribution about lacustrine shorelines is virtually non‐existent. The absence of such data limits the effective management of lake shores where issues of shoreline erosion are no less significant than on open ocean coasts. Results from instrumentally measured waves during seven storm events in 1995 are presented for the Clutha Arm of Lake Dunstan, South Isla...

A second species of Neophrynichthys is described from 20 specimens collected from the Campbell Plateau, south of South Island, New Zealand. It differs from its sole congener, N. latus , in having 25–26 pectoral rays (versus 22–24), cirri on head more than twice as large, half as few (c. 50 versus >100), and generally absent from the mid‐region behind the eyes (versus being relatively dense), and in spotted colour pattern cover...

Larvae of Boccardia knoxi (Rainer) were reared in the laboratory after dissection from brood capsules extracted from the outer shell and perio‐stracum of Cookia sulcata and Haliotis iris collected from Tasman Bay, New Zealand. All the eggs within each brood capsule developed into embryos. The dissected larvae had provisional setae and fed on phytoplankton. Larval development is described through to metamorphosis.

Wave data derived from radar altimeters carried on four satellite missions are combined into a wave climatology for New Zealand waters. These data provide extensive observations of wave conditions around New Zealand, where the paucity of measurements has previously hindered definition of the wave climate. The data span the period 1985 to the present with the exception of a 2‐year gap in 1989–91. The spatial distribution of the...

The influence of a small intertidal seagrass, Zostera novaz.elandica (Setchell), on tidal current velocities and sediment texture was studied at Harwood, Otago Harbour, New Zealand. Tidal current velocities were substantially reduced inside the Z. novazelandica patch compared to velocities above the patch (3.7 times greater) and outside it (2.5 times greater), causing a low‐flow environment among the 12‐cm‐tall seagrass. Curre...

The post‐spawning movements and distribution of 15 brown trout ( Salmo trutta Linnaeus 1758) and 21 rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss Richardson, 1836) were monitored weekly between August 1996 and March 1997 in the hydro‐electric reservoir, Lake Otamangakau, New Zealand, using radio‐telemetry. The most frequently used areas were the vicinity of the main inflow and the channel running through the main body of the lake. After...

Neolepas osheai sp. nov. is described from collections made at depths of 1200–1700 m within the Brothers Caldera, a site of hydrothermal venting and active volcanism in the southern portion of the Havre Trough. N. osheai sp. nov. is similar to other Neolepas in that it is hermaphroditic, has very specialised cirri, and occupies a “deep water” hydro‐thermal vent habitat. It differs from other species in its trophic structures a...

A database of storm surge events was constructed for two sites in south‐eastern Tauranga Harbour, New Zealand, for the period 1960‐mid 1998. Storm surge events were defined as occasions when the residual level between the predicted high tide level and recorded water level exceeded 10 cm. The residual was determined at high tide only (every 12.4 h), with 954 storm surge events found over the 38.4‐year period analysed. The magni...

Burrow morphology and intraspecific burrow plasticity in relation to environmental conditions were examined for an intertidal population of Callianassa filholi Milne‐Edwards, 1878 in southeastern New Zealand. Multivariate analysis of burrow features revealed no significant differences in burrow morphology between seasons. However, dissimilarities between burrows from different seasons could be identified and included differenc...

Diadromous fish species dominate the New Zealand freshwater fish fauna and make up 15 of the 17 native fish species found on the Taranaki Ring Plain. Trajectories of occurrence in relation to elevation and distance from the sea are described for 11 diadromous and 2 non‐diadromous species using data from the New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database and data collected over the summer of 1997/ 98. Distinctive distributions were found...

The giant bully, Gobiomorphus gobioides (Valenciennes), is widespread throughout New Zealand, but remains one of our least known freshwater fish. During a study of seasonal fish abundance and movements in the Kakanui River estuary, South Island, New Zealand, giant bullies captured mainly in fyke nets were measured and tagged. Growth rates and movements were calculated for the 19 fish recaptured. Growth rates corresponded with...

To explore whether biotic interactions may be more common in benthic invertebrate communities in stable compared with unstable New Zealand streams, interspecific associations of invertebrate stone assemblages were examined in 10 streams of similar geomorphological character but differing stability. More significant correlations were found than expected by chance at most sites. Stable sites had more negative and positive associ...

Pseudo‐nitzschia multistriata (Takano) Takano has been observed in seawater samples from the North Island and from the northern waters of the South Island, New Zealand, with blooms of >1.0 × 10 6 cells litre ‐1 being recorded in December 1997 (austral summer), and minor blooms occurring in both summer and winter 1998 and 1999. The species is notable for its sigmoid form, and for its cross‐reactivity with oligonucleotide probes...

Distribution, abundance, and habitat preferences of native fish were investigated down the length of a relatively pristine, medium‐sized, fourth‐order stream on Stewart Island, New Zealand. A limited fish fauna was recorded (six species), including three threatened large galaxiid species (Galaxias argenteus, Galaxias fasciatus , and Galaxias brevipinnis) , which have restricted distributions on mainland New Zealand. Results in...