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Critter of the Week: Corallimorphus niwa
Corallimorpharia are a group of cnidarians morphologically intermediate between sea anemones and stony corals. Like sea anemones (Actiniaria), they lack a calcareous skeleton but their internal anatomy and nematocysts are similar to stony corals (Scleractinia). In fact, phylogenetic studies have shown that Scleractinia and Corallimorpharia are closely related. -
NIWA completes first bathymetric mapping of Lake Tekapo
Media release17 March 2016NIWA researchers have spent part of the last month keeping a close eye on the bottom of Lake Tekapo to find out what it looks like and what is going on below the lake bed. -
Lake Tekapo - a tsunami hazard?
NIWA scientists scan Lake Tekapo with the aim of finding out if submarine landslides can create a tsunami hazard for the Lake Tekapo township and hydropower infrastructure. -
New Zealand sea lion mystery
The main breeding population of NZ sea lions at the Auckland Islands has declined by approximately 50% since the late 1990s. -
NIWA's Hotspot Watch
Hotspot11 March 2016A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. -
Scientists attribute rising methane levels to agriculture
Media release11 March 2016A breakthrough in understanding about the causes of climate change has today been published online in the prestigious international journal Science. -
Critter of the week: Ophiactis abyssicola
Ophiactis abyssicola (Sars, 1861) is a very common deep sea species of brittlestar distributed throughout New Zealand waters and in temperate regions in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. -
Scientists rediscover New Zealand’s first weather diaries
Media release09 March 2016NIWA climate scientists studying the diaries of an early English missionary stationed in the Far North have found the oldest surviving long-term instrumental weather records made in New Zealand. -
Even more flexibility with fisheries software CASAL II
Feature story07 March 2016NIWA-developed software is becoming the international standard in the assessment and management of fish stocks. -
NIWA's Hotspot Watch 4 March 2016
Hotspot04 March 2016Across the northern North Island, soil moisture levels have generally remained the same or increased slightly when compared to this time last week. -
Critter of the Week: Gibberula ficula - rice snails
Gibberula ficula (Murdoch & Suter, 1906) are micro snails in the family Cystiscidae.