Voyage of discovery: Kermadecs expedition finds several new species

‘Every dive holds the possibility of seeing new creatures'

May 2011: New Zealand's largest scientific expedition ever to explore the inshore coastal waters of the Kermadecs, has been discovering several new species.

NEW TO SCIENCE? The expedition team are fairly confident that this pipefish is a newly-discovered species

Auckland Museum marine curator Dr Tom Trnski says he believes two of the species collected on the expedition to date are probably new to science while a handful of animals are brand new records for New Zealand.

‘We have almost certainly already collected new species but we just don't know it yet,' he said.

‘The other night we found an eel that none of the fish experts on the boat can identify - so it could possibly be a new species but we won't know that until we get back from the expedition and can send it to an eel expert to confirm its identity.

Several species new to New Zealand
‘Every dive we make has the possibility of finding creatures new to the Kermadecs, new to New Zealand and even new to science.

‘We have two species that I'm pretty confident are new to science - a little left-eye flounder and a pipe fish.

‘We suspect the flounder doesn't grow very big as the largest one we have collected is just 10cm long. Probably the most exciting find is the pipe fish - again it's small, 10cm long, with a white body with striking orange spots. Pipe fish are related to sea horses, and are really just like a sea horse that has been straightened out.'

THRILLED: The team found a zebra lionfish, which has never been seen in New Zealand waters before

The new species records for New Zealand include a shark, a zebra lionfish, a tropical banded eel, a blackspot sergeant and a tropical goatfish. Final confirmation of these species records won't be made until after the expedition return at the end of this month.

We live for expeditions like these
Trnski said it was an incredible privilege to be part of this scientific journey. ‘We live for it. Expeditions like this are real highlights for biologists - an opportunity to go somewhere new, see things from the point of view of an entire eco-system and to get a different perspective from the usual one we have working on individual species in a lab or at the computer.'

Trnski says the marine life observed by the team so far reflects a unique marine environment. ‘What amazes me is that the marine life here is a real mix of temperate and tropical, a unique blend that I haven't experienced anywhere else in the world.
We have seen everything from whales to tiny plankton.

'The waters here are rich in many kinds of fishes including the protected spotted black grouper - some up to 1.5 metres long - and Galapagos sharks, both of which are fearless and curious.

The waters are so clear it feels like the tropics
‘It feels like the tropics in terms of how clear the water is, plus there are a few corals but at the same time there are invertebrates which are more typical of northern New Zealand rocky reefs.'

The Kermadec Islands are located 1,000km north east of New Zealand and have been protected as a ‘no-take marine reserve' for more than 20 years.