Cute Face Among Coastal Kelp
Kelpfish Chironemus marmoratus (hiwihiwi) cannot float so it glides short distances among kelp.
Tiny Mouth And Leather Skin
Triggerfish (leatherjacket) Parika scaber
Spines Not So Sharp
The most common sea urchin around the coast of New Zealand is Evechinus chloroticus, also called kina.
Mixed Coastal Kelp Forest
There is that zone where the intertidal and and deeper water weeds mix.
Carpophyllum Rules Exposed Shores
Sometimes they form coastal areas that look like miniature replicas of giant Macrocystis kelp forests.
White Clown With Orange Dots
I am not sure if this sea slug, clown nudibranch Ceratosoma amoenum, is common. Last summer we saw many of them on the rocks in very shallow water, perhaps less than one meter deep, in Maitai Bay in Northland. However, I don’t remember seeing them there in previous years. I used to see them regularly […]