Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Trochida
Family: Turbinidae
Genus: Lunella
Species: Lunella smaragda
Found on a rock pool.
Those snails have a beautiful green operculum that looks like an eye and that is were they get the common name cats eye.
Cats eyes are grazer and feed on algae.
Found on sandy intertidal zone near eel grass. Tide was outgoing at time of discovery.
Method: Turning over rocks and boulders.
Nematode on a sea anemone. Dock fuzz
Common cockle (Austrovenus stutchburyi) or Tuangi is part of the Mollusca phylum and is in the order, it was found during a diurnal low tide within the rocky mid shore using the 'Sand digging' method.
Sand Hopper(Bellorchestia Quoyana) or Namu Mawhitiwhiti is part of the phylum Arthropoda and the order Amphipoda. It was found during diurnal low tides within the rocky mid shore using the 'sand digging' method.
At low tide (12:30am) on the 22/5/20 down at Matua sand flats I sieved sand content to find an abundance of cockles. Weather was overcast but water was flat. Austrovenus Stutchburyi is the New Zealand cockle and lives in subtidal and intertidal zones in harbors and estuaries. Their typical habitat is mud and high grain sand but can also be found in large numbers in seagrass beds. They filter feed on phytoplankton and other small carnivores while being buried 2-3cm in their substrate. They can grow upto 6.5cm in the right conditions and they are a common food source for not only animals but people too.
Phylum Mollusca
Class Polyplacophora
Order Chitonida
Family Acanthochitonidae
Genus Pseudotonicia
Species Pseudotonicia cuneata
Found on high tide at the shore by the rocks. As I picked it up it rolled into a ball.
They can grow to 45mm in length and 22m wide. They are grazers and benthic.
Phylum Porifera
Class Dermospongiae
Order Haplosclerida
Family Callyspongiidae
Species Callyspongia ramosa
Found washed up on the beach shore. Those sponges are also common to be seen. They have finger like appearance. They can grow as tall as 1 meter and found down to 45 meters deep in the ocean.
Mollusca (Phylum) >
Gastropoda (Class) > Caenogastropoda (Subclass) > Littorinimorpha (Order) >
Tonnoidea (Superfamily) >
Tonnidae (Family) >
Tonna (Genus) >
tankervillii (Species)
There species can be found on the coast of New Zealand. The shell hight is up to 23cm and width 19cm. This shell is a very leggier species of sea snail and a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tonnidae, the tun shells. Using method 8 which is going to find some dock fuzz and get some and see what I could find in it. At low tide which was 10:51am on Wednesday 20th of May, I was going around the base of the Pilot Bay docks trying to find some dock fuzz.
Patiriella regularis
Animalia (Kingdom) Echinodermata (Phylum) Asterozoa (Subphylum) Asteroidea (Class) Valvatacea (Superorder) Valvatida (Order) Asterinidae (Family) Patiriella (Genus) Patiriella regularis (Species)
Using method 2 which is rock pool sampling I climbed around all the rocks at the base of Mount Maunganui at low tide which was 10:51am on Tuesday 19th of May and was found in a rock pool on the top of a large rock.
These are very common in New Zealand and come in different colours. They are found in area of mid tide to 30 m deep in the rocky shore intertidal zones and the rocky reef subtidal zones. They are scavengers and feed on both living and dead organsims such as barancles and microscopic algae. They are not edible and they are hand sized.
Animalia (Kingdom) Arthropoda (Phylum) Crustacea (Subphylum) Multicrustacea (Superclass) Malacostraca (Class) Eumalacostraca (Subclass) Eucarida (Superorder) Decapoda (Order) Pleocyemata (Suborder) Brachyura (Infraorder) Eubrachyura (Section) Thoracotremata (Subsection) Grapsoidea (Superfamily) Grapsidae (Family) Leptograpsus (Genus) Leptograpsus variegatus (Species)
They are found in crevice and among large boulders in the intertidal zone, and are found most abundant in the North.
The carapace is patchy in colour with green and purple. The claws are much large in the males than the females. During the low tides at night, this crab searches for food. It always eat red seaweed and other detritus.
Using method 3 which is turning over boulders and cobbles I climbed around all the rocks at the base of Mount Maunganui at low tide which was 10:51am on Tuesday 19th of May. I was going around the base of the Mount and I found this crab at the top of a rock hiding under rocks and seaweed.
Oyster, Rock (S. glomerata)
Kingdom - Animalia
Molluscs - Phylum Mollusca
Bivales (Class Bivliva)
Auto Branches (Sub class Autobranchia)
Pteriomorphs Infraclass Pteriomorphia
Oysters and Allies Order Ostreida
Superfamily Ostreoidea
True Oysters Family Ostreidae
Subfamily Saccostreinae
Genus Saccostrea
New Zealand Rock Oyster Saccostrea glomerata
Using method 3 which is turning over boulders and cobbles I climbed around all the rocks at the base of Mount Maunganui at low tide which was 10:51am on Tuesday 19th of May. I was finding all the little holes in the rocks to try and find something and at the base of the rocks under some rock there was the Oyster, Rock (S. glomerata). It was hard to spot and looked like part of the rock but on closer inspection I found it was the Oyster. It was hard to spot and looked like part of the rock but on closer inspection I found it was the Oyster. They are found in sandy/muddy shore intertidal zone and also on rocky shore intertidal zones. Found in the North Island. Mid intertidal zones of sheltered rocky shore and mudflats North half of the North Island. They are also filter feeders. The shell is roughly oval, the colour is chalky white with patches of purple and brown. They can reach up to 80mm long. The rims on the shell have extended razor sharp extensions. You can eat these Oysters but there is a limit of 250 person and there is one size limit.
Method 5 - Sandy flat observations
. Low tide
. Afternoon
. Clear skies
Caught with a net off of Sulfer Point boat ramp
Method 2, rockpool sampling. Found in a sub-tidal rockpool exposed by the outgoing tide. Very large and real pretty.
Method 2, rockpool sampling at low tide. This little fulla wasn't even in the water so to speak. He was hidden in a small damp and shady pocket on the side of a relatively large rockpool. This had been exposed by the receding tide which was about 5 hours on the way out.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anothozoa
Order: Actinaria
Family: Actiniidae
Genus: Isactinia
Species: I. olivacea
Found: Attahced and underneath rocks in small rock pools at low tide along Maketu beach.
Exposure: Exposed to light wave action.
Depth: 10m from low tide mark.
Substrate: Attached to underneath of small rocks.
Activity: Alive.
Note: In second and third photo the two anemones are leaning against a chiton.
The cats eye is a type of sea snail from the order trochida, the family Turbinidae and and class Gastropoda. I observed this species on the Mount Maunganui rocks. They feed on filamentous algae and some seaweed sporelings. The size of cats eyes vary between 35mm and 70mm.