1. Snakeskin chiton / papatua · 2018-05-25 · 1. Snakeskin chiton / papatua Snakeskin chitons are...

1. Snakeskin chiton / papatuaSnakeskin chitons are easy to find in rock pools.

You will see them on rocks above the water when the tide is out. They get covered by water when the tide comes in.

Their skeletons have eight plates with a band around the outside. The band is called a girdle.

Cat’s eyes and limpets also live in rock pools.

Snakeskin chitons, cat’s eyes and limpets all feed on seaweed.

They get eaten by starfish and seagulls.

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What’s my future?

There are lots of snakeskin chitons, cat’s eyes and limpets all around New Zealand. We can all help them by keeping the rocky coasts clean and healthy.

Activities

What are some things that are the same about chitons and cat’s eyes?

Find some other animals or plants that live in the rock pools and make a food chain to show who eats who.

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RoCky ShoRe ShAlloW WAteR MARine PlAntS DeeP SeA SAnDy ShoRe

Published by: Department of ConservationPoneke Area, P.O. Box 5086, Wellington2007

Snakeskin chiton. Photo: Jeremy Rolfe.

2. Seven-armed starfish / pätangaroathe seven-armed starfish is the largest kind of starfish that lives in New Zealand. Some are 50 centimetres across when their arms are spread out—half as big as a metre ruler.Every arm has rows of feet that are like suckers. These are good for catching food and opening shellfish.Starfish like to eat small shellfish, chitons, limpets, päua and kina.They stretch their stomach over the food they catch and turn it into a watery dinner. They can break off their arms to get away from enemies.

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What’s my future?

Lots of starfish live in rock pools round the coasts. They can find plenty of food and are good at protecting (looking after) themselves.

Activities

Look on the seascape mural to find a meal for a starfish.

What special parts does the starfish have to help it catch food?

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Seven-armed starfi sh. Photo: Malcolm Francis.

3. PäuaPäua are found only in New Zealand.

They live all around our rocky coasts.

They have the most colourful shell in the world.

They have black meat that some people like to eat.

Their shells were used for eyes in Mäori carvings.

Päua eat seaweed. Päua get eaten by starfish and seabirds.

Starfish catch päua by covering the päua’s breathing holes and making it to let go of the rock.

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What’s my future?

People like to catch päua to eat. There are rules to stop people from taking too many. Small päua must be left in the sea to grow and breed.

Activities

Look on the mural to find a food chain for päua.

How many of the päua shell’s colours can you see when you look around the coast?

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Paua. Photo: Wendy Norden.

4. kina / sea egg, common sea kina live under the sea around the rocky coasts.Kina are covered in spines that move like legs.Their feet are black tubes that poke out from their spines.They have little suckers at the end of their feet.Their small mouth is underneath its body. Waste comes out through a small hole in the top of the shell.Kina feed on seaweed.Kina get caught and eaten by starfish and people.

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What’s my future?

People are not allowed to gather too many kina. The rules say that people can take up to 50 kina per day.

Activities

Make a food chain for kina.

What helps kina to protect themselves?

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Kina. Photo: Lindsey MacFarlane.

5. Spotty / paketiSpotties are easy to find in rock pools and in the sea.

They all have a large black or brown spot on their back.

Lots of people catch them when they go fishing off wharves and rocks.

When spotties rest at night, they cover themselves with mucus (slimy stuff) to protect themselves.

All spotties start off as females and some change to males when they are 3 or 4 years old.

Adult spotties feed on crabs, shellfish, starfish and worms.

Spotties get eaten by bigger fish, seals and penguins.

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What’s my future?

If people help to keep the rock pools and the sea clean and healthy there will still be lots of spotties in the future.

Activities

Make a food chain for a spotty.

Look around the coast to see if anyone is fishing today. Describe some of the different ways people can catch fish.

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Spotty..

6. Blue cod / päkirikiri, räwaruBlue cod are only found in New Zealand and there are lots of them around our coasts.They live at the bottom of the sea.They change colour as they grow. They start out white with two dark brown or black stripes on their back.Adults are blue-grey on top with a turquoise band behind their head. They can live for more than 20 years.Blue cod get close to divers and sometimes bite their fingers or diving gear.Adults blue cod eat shellfish, crustaceans (like crabs), and small fish.

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What’s my future?

Many fishers catch blue cod. If people catch small blue cod they must put them back into the sea so that they can grow and breed.

Activities

Make a food chain for an adult blue cod.

Can you see anyone fishing today? What are the rules people (fishers) should know about catching fish (kaimoana)?

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Blue cod. Photo: Paddy Ryan.

7. Pot-bellied seahorse / kiore moana, manaiaThe pot-bellied seahorse has a hard body. It looks like the skeleton is on the outside of its body.Pot-bellied seahorses hold onto seaweed with their long tails.They use the fins on the sides of their heads to swim slowly forwards.They can swim faster by bending forward and moving the fin in their back.Seahorses eat small shellfish that they find among the seaweed.They suck food into their mouths as if they were using a drinking straw.Most sea animals find seahorses too bony to eat, but crabs enjoy them.

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What’s my future?

People are always learning new things about seahorses. Some scientists breed seahorses in tanks so that they can learn more about them. They want to find out how to help them to survive in the sea.

Activities

Make a food chain for a seahorse.

Look at the seahorses on the mural. Find their fins. How do they use them?

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Pot-bellied seahorse. Photo Darryl Torckler. Inset: Warren Farrelly.

8. Common jellyfish / petipetiJellyfish are found all around New Zealand.

In summer, we see them washed up onto the beach.

Jellyfish have tentacles that can sting.

They sting the small animals (like shrimps and plankton) that they catch to eat.

Jellyfish are floating animals that get carried along by the tide.

They don’t carry too much food in their stomachs—that would make it hard to stay afloat.

Jellyfish get eaten by sea turtles and some fish.

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What’s my future?

There are lots of jellyfish around but many are caught (by accident) in nets at sea.

Activities

Find some food on the mural for a common jellyfish.

What should you do if you see jellyfish on the beach in the summer? Why?

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Common jellyfi sh. Photo: DOC.

9. Porcupine fish / köpütötaraPorcupine fish have lots of spines in their skin.

They are very poisonous.

They can blow themselves up to make their spines stand out more. They do this to protect themselves.

Porcupine fish live in large schools (groups) at the bottom of the sea.

They swim by using their fins. They use their tail for quick movements.

They have very strong jaws that they use to crush the hard shells of shellfish, kina and crabs. Most fish cannot eat these because of their hard shells.

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What’s my future?

The porcupine fish is able to protect itself with its dangerous spines. People can help porcupine fish by keeping the sea clean and healthy.

Activities

Look at the sea animals on the seascape mural. Plan a meal for the porcupine fish.

How can you protect yourself from poisonous sea animals when you are swimming in the sea?

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Porcupine fi sh. Photo: Warren Farrelly.

10. Marine algae (seaweeds)More than 600 different kinds of seaweeds live in the water around New Zealand.

Seaweeds are used as food and shelter for many animals.

Sea lettuce (ulva) has green leaves that look a bit like lettuce leaves.

Bladder kelp is a giant seaweed. It can grow more than 25 metres long.

Coralline algae come in lots of different colours. Some look like paint on the rocks and some are thin and leafy.

Flexible flapjack (Carpophyllum flexuosum) has long bendy leaves and round floating parts that help the plant stand up in the water.

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What’s my future?

The harbour and coast has forests of algae. Pollution (from people’s rubbish, stormwater, sewage, oil and fuel spills) can harm these forests.

Activities

Make a food chain for the algae (seaweed) on the mural.

Look on the beach to find dried seaweed. Use the mural to help you name it.

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Photo Jeremy Rolfe.

11. Southern right whale / tohoräThe southern right whale is a baleen whale.

Baleen whales sift their food through a big sieve that hangs from the roof of their mouth. The sieve is made from baleen (like your fingernails).

They catch small fish and tiny sea animals by swimming on the top of the water with their mouth open.

Each southern right whale has a different pattern of rough white skin (callosites) around its head and jaw.

Southern right whales don’t come into Wellington Harbour as often as they used to.

In the 1800s the whalers almost made these whales extinct.

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What’s my future?

In the 1800s, up to 200 whaling ships caught whales around New Zealand. Now whales are protected (except from scientific whaling—some people can catch them to study them).

Activities

Whales in the harbour used to make so much noise that people living nearby found it hard to sleep at night—that’s what it was like before the whaling ships caught lots of them.

Make a food chain for a southern right whale.

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DeeP WAteR RoCky ShoRe ShAlloW WAteR MARine PlAntS DeeP SeA SAnDy ShoRe


Southern right whale. Photo: Paul Salvador. Insets: Kim Westerskov.

12. kahawaikahawai are found in shallow water near the coast.

They swim in groups (schools) with other kahawai that are about the same size.

The schools of large fish out at sea have up to 200 fish.

Kahawai eat a lot when there is plenty of food around, then they don’t eat again until their stomach is empty.

Adults eat mainly lobsters and small schooling fishes, but also eat crabs, worms and shellfish.

Kahawai get eaten by larger fish and sea mammals, and also seabirds.

Some kahawai live for 26 years.

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What’s my future?

If people obey the fishing rules there should always be lots of kahawai around. If fishers catch young kahawai they should put them back into the sea to grow and breed.

Activities

Make a food chain for a kahawai.

What are some good things about living together in a large group or school?

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ShAlloW WAteR RoCky ShoRe ShAlloW WAteR MARine PlAntS DeeP SeA SAnDy ShoRe


Kahawai. Photo: Kim Westerskov.

13. orca / maki, käkahiorca are also called ‘killer whales’.They eat many marine animals but they don’t usually harm people.Orca are found in oceans all around the world.They often visit Wellington Harbour where they like to hunt for stingrays in the muddy sea bottom.They have large fins on their backs. On male orcas these fins can grow up to 1.8 metres tall.Orca have teeth (not baleen like some whales) and eat mainly fish or squid. Sometimes they eat other whales, dolphins, seals, penguins, sharks, stingray and seabirds.

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What’s my future?

There are 150 to 200 orcas that make trips around New Zealand. They are protected in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

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Activities

Make a food chain for an orca.

Take about 9 big strides (steps) on the footpath. That is about as long as an orca. Imagine a back (dorsal) fin almost as high as a doorway on top of that.

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Orca. Photo DOC.

14. hector’s dolphin / UpokohueThe hector’s dolphin (named after scientist, Sir James Hector) lives only around the coast of New Zealand.Hector’s dolphins are the smallest dolphins in the world—adults are 1.2–1.4 metres long.They have a rounded fin on the top of their back that looks like a Mickey Mouse ear.They love to have fun surfing the waves, playing with bits of seaweed or driftwood, blowing bubbles underwater and swimming near boats.They have blubber (oily fat just under their skin) to keep them warm.Some of the food they eat is red cod, mullet, sole, sprats, stargazer, ähuru and arrow squid.

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What’s my future?

There are about 7300 South Island Hector’s dolphins and 110 North Island Hector’s dolphins (or Maui’s dolphins). Many of them get caught in nets. When they can’t get up to the surface for air, they drown. Some sanctuaries have been made to help keep dolphins safe from nets.

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Activities

Find some of the food (on the mural) that Hector’s dolphins would eat.

Watch out for the dolphins that are often seen in the harbour and around the south coast.

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15. new Zealand fur seal / kekenoFur seals live all around the coast of New Zealand.

They are very good swimmers and can dive deeper than 230 metres.

They use their flippers to move when they are out of the water.

They live at breeding colonies (where mothers raise their babies) or at ‘haul out’ sites (where males seals hang out after the breeding season).

They often eat squid, octopus, lantern fish, barracuda and sometimes penguins.

They feed mainly at night and spend the day resting on rocks.

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What’s my future?

People used to kill fur seals for their fur. The seals nearly became extinct. Now they are not hunted but sometimes they get caught up in fishing nets and drown, or swallow plastic bags that are in the sea.

Activities

Use the mural to find a food chain for a fur seal.

Rubbish at sea is a problem for fur seals. Check that your class takes their rubbish home or puts it in the bin.

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NZ fur seal. Photo: Jeremy Rolfe.

16. eagle ray / whai keo, whai repoeagle rays are very good swimmers.

They have pointed wings that they flap to swim.

They often rest over sand or mud patches.

Eagle rays eat crabs, shrimps and worms and they may be eaten by orca.

They have strong jaws for crushing food like shellfish and crabs.

They swallow the meat and leave small piles of crushed shells behind.

Eagle rays grow up to 2 metres long.

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What’s my future?

The future looks good for eagle rays as long as people help to keep the sea clean and healthy.

Activities

Make a food chain for an eagle ray.

There is a lot of rubbish on the sea floor. Take your rubbish home or put it in the bin. Check that your friends look after their rubbish too.

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Eagle ray. Photo: DOC.


17. CrabsCrabs have a hard covering on their bodies, legs and nippers.

They feed on all sorts of small sea animals and seaweeds.

Seagulls use their sharp bills to eat crabs.

The common rock crab (päpaka) lives under rocks or stones on rocky or muddy coasts.

The hermit crab (käunga) has a hard covering (around its front parts) just like other crabs.

It finds an empty shell to live in, to protect its soft belly.

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What’s my future?

There are many crabs around our rocky coasts. People can help crabs by keeping the coasts clean.

Activities

Look on the mural for some food that crabs like to eat and find something that eats crabs.

Look for some places around the coast where you would probably find crabs.

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Hermit crab.


18. GullsThe black-backed gull (karoro), the red-billed gull (taräpunga) and the black-billed gull (tarapunga) all live in New Zealand.They live around the coast, in harbours and on rivers and lakes.At sea, gulls eat mainly fish. Around the coast the black-backed gulls eat shellfish. They drop them onto the rocks to break their shell.Gulls also eat food scraps left by people around the coast.The black-backed gull is the largest gull. It’s back and wings are black and its bill is yellow.The red-billed gull and the black-billed gull are smaller gulls.

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What’s my future?

Gulls like being around people and there are large numbers of them around our harbour and south coast.

Activities

Choose some food from the mural to feed a gull.

Look around you and see how many gulls you can count. Why do you think there are so many here?

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Red-billed gull. Photo: Rod Morris.Black-backed gull.

Photo: Jeremy Rolfe.


19. Australasian gannet / täkapuGannets often visit Wellington harbour and the south coast.

There are many islands around New Zealand (and 3 parts of the coast) where gannets make nests and look after their babies.

Young gannets leave the breeding grounds and they come back when they are adults.

Gannets are great divers. They fly high above schools of fish (e.g. kahawai, trevally) and then dive to catch them.

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What’s my future?

Rats, stoats, weasels and dogs eat gannets’ eggs and chicks. People can help gannets by keeping the coasts clean.

Activities

Make a food chain for a gannet.

Watch the seabirds that live around the harbour and coast. How do they catch their food?

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Australasian gannet. Photo: Peter Blok.


20. little blue penguin / kororäThe little blue penguin is the smallest of all penguins.

Little blue penguins are found around our coasts and on islands.

They are often seen swimming in Wellington Harbour.

From May and June they make nests in rocky shelters, bushes or under houses.

Parents take turns at sitting on the eggs and looking after the chicks for their first few weeks.

During the day little blue penguins go out to sea to hunt for small fish, squid and crabs.

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What’s my future?

Sometimes little blue penguins have to cross the road to get to their nests. Some get killed by cars, some get killed by dogs. Sometimes it is hard for penguins to make their homes on the coast where there are lots of houses.

Activities

Look around the coast at all the roads and houses. What would make it hard for a penguin to come ashore to make a nest and raise its chicks?

Make a food chain for a penguin.

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Little blue penguin. Photo: Rod Morris.


1. Snakeskin chiton / papatua · 2018-05-25 · 1. Snakeskin chiton / papatua Snakeskin chitons are...

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