Taylor’s Mistake Rock Pools, Trip #76

On August 13, we explored the rock pools at Taylor’s Mistake. We always find lots of animals (and seaweeds) there, and always something new; this trip was no exception.

A handsome blue and yellow amphipod.

Searching…

We chose this particular day so the tide would be low, and at the tail end of still going out. This allowed us to explore quite low down in the intertidal zone, where we have had good success in finding fish and crabs on previous occasions.

New Zealand half crab (Petrolisthes elongatus).

The resources we used for identifying species at this site include:

• Southern NZ rocky shore guide, NZ Marine Studies Centre (pdf)
• Coastal Crabs, NIWA (pdf)
• The rockpool fishes of New Zealand – Chris Paulin & Clive Roberts (Book)
• New Zealand Coastal Marine Invertebrates – Steve de C. Cook (Book)
• Seaweeds of New Zealand – Nancy Adams (Book)
• Brown seaweeds, NIWA (pdf)

And, our thanks to the helpful folk at iNaturalist NZ.

Below is some of what we saw.

Animals

New Zealand half crab

How do these crabs not tip over with those outsized claws?

New Zealand half crab (Petrolisthes elongatus).

Underneath of New Zealand half crab (Petrolisthes elongatus).

Hermit crab

Hermit crabs hide in vacated shells.

Caridean shrimp

Caridean shrimp (Alope spinifrons).

Amphipods

These are crustaceans, so are related to crabs and shrimps. Most are smaller than 1 cm and feed on detritus or scavenge.

Another beautifully patterned amphipod.

Column barnacles

Column barnacles (Chamaesipho columna).

Symmetrical sessile barnacle

Symmetrical sessile barnacle (Epopella plicata).

Blue green chiton

Blue green chiton (Chiton glaucus).

Little black mussels

Little black mussel (Xenostrobus neozelanicus).

New Zealand green-lipped mussel

New Zealand green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus).

A limpet

A true limpet (Notoacmea sp.).

Blue-banded Periwinkle

Blue-banded periwinkle (Austrolittorina antipodum).

Polychaetes

An unidentified polychaete.

A polychaete (Eulalia microphylla).

Both polychaetes; the larger one is Eulalia microphylla.

Giant shore anemone

Giant shore anemone (Oulactis magna).

New Zealand common cushion star

New Zealand common cushion star (Patiriella regularis).

Underneath of a New Zealand common cushion star (Patiriella regularis).

Sea tulip

Actually an animal – see here for more information.

Sea tulip (Pyura pachydermatina).

New Zealand lumpfish

New Zealand lumpfish (Trachelochismus pinnulatus) and a common cushion star.

New Zealand lumpfish (Trachelochismus pinnulatus), juvenile.

Olive rockfish

Olive rockfish (Acanthoclinus fuscus).

Plants

Green algae

Y-branched algae

Y-branched algae (Dictyota sp.).

Dead man’s fingers

Dead man’s fingers (Codium fragile).

Red algae

Common coralline

Common coralline (Corallina officinalis).

Common coralline (Corallina officinalis).

Red Algae

Unidentified red algae (Phylum Rhodophyta).

Below is a diagram showing some of the taxonomic relationships between all of these species.

Geology

The Port Hills are a remnant of the Lyttelton Volcano, and this site has some dramatic examples of volcanic rock: