Progress report March 20, 2018

As of this morning this project contained 924 observations covering at least 235 mainly marine species (there are a couple of terrestrial interlopers that have been recorded on the fringe of the intertidal zone or foraging in it at low water).

The coverage of observations is best along the rocky coastline, with relatively few from the beaches and virtually none at all from the western edge of the reserve, around Taputeranga Island or in the deep offshore areas.

The number of subtidal observations has recently been boosted by Donnacha Ó Súilleabháin's (donnacha) contributions, particularly his documentation of the occurrences of a juvenile magpie morwong, a juvenile goatfish (aka red mullet) and a potentially undescribed species of anemone (https://inaturalist.nz/observations/10111167) in the reserve. Identification (or not) of the anemone benefited greatly from Tony Wills' contributions and those of Michela Mitchell, Museum Victoria. More of this interesting little critter can be seen at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/9902887 and https://inaturalist.nz/observations/9918104. It would be really interesting to get more observations of this species, inside and outside the marine reserve, so that we can get a better understanding of its distribution.

Posted on March 20, 2018 03:47 AM by clinton