Oceans

NIWA aims to provide the knowledge needed for the sound environmental management of our marine resources.

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    This week's Critter is the sand-dollar associate Oxydromus sp., a hesionid polychaete.

    Hesionids are lively compact small worms, often richly coloured and with a good set of eyes (2 pairs, with lenses).
  • Extraordinary Echinoderms

    An interactive guide to the sea stars, brittle stars, feather stars, sea eggs, and sea cucumbers (echinoderms) of New Zealand.
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    Decade of great white shark research nears end

    News article
    A joint 10-year NIWA and Department of Conservation project to find out more about the great white sharks that inhabit New Zealand waters is coming to an end.
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    Argyrometra mortenseni

    This week's Critter of the Week (number 130) is the feather star Argyrometra mortenseni.
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    Critter of the Week: The brittle star Ophioleuce brevispinum

    This week we bring you a species that puts the ‘brittle’ into brittle star: the beautiful and fragile Ophioleuce brevispinum.
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    Critter of the Week: The Mediterranean fanworm Sabella spallanzanii

    The Mediterranean fanworm Sabella spallanzanii is a spectacularly large worm with a characteristic circular whirl of filaments.
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    Critter of the Week: Zoroaster

    We hope this Week’s Critter of the Week will brighten your day, introducing the genus of sea stars called Zoroaster.
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    As far down as it goes - Critter of the Week - Scopelocheirus schellenbergi

    With the Kermadec Trench Expedition coming to a close , we thought we would stay on the theme of trenches for a little longer and present to you Scopelocheirus schellenbergi.
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    Critter of the Week: Grumpy crab Pilumnus novaezelandiae.

    Never complain about a bad hair day again! This week’s crab arguably gives more the impression of disbelief than grump.
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    Critter of the Week – The fig shell, Thalassocyon tui

    This week we introduce a beautiful treasure of the deep, Thalassocyon tui a sea snail generally found in northern New Zealand waters.
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    Critter of the Week - precious coral Corallium

    This week, let us celebrate the closely related genus Corallium in honour of our visiting scientist Tzu Hsuan Tu from the National Taiwan University in Taipei.
  • Ocean acidification - What does it mean for Shellfish?

    This video has been produced to highlight ocean acidification as a potential issue affecting the NZ shellfish aquaculture industry