There are lots of different names used in the Young Ocean Explorers series. If you look at the name (or logo) on Riley Hathaway’s wetsuit, you see the title of her television series1. Steve Hathaway has a different logo on his wetsuit: 93%. Steve’s logo refers to New Zealand’s huge underwater area – our exclusive economic zone2 (EEZ3). The EEZ extends 200 nautical miles4 (370 kilometres) beyond our offshore islands, giving the country a zone of 4 million square kilometres, meaning that approximately 93% of New Zealand is actually under water!
Common and scientific names
Living things have many different types of names or labels. Most people use common names – like shark (or mangō in Māori), but common names can refer to a number of different species5. For example, New Zealand has 70 shark species. To avoid confusion, living things are given scientific names. Systematic naming ensures that one species has one name worldwide. For example, in New Zealand, the blue shark has its common name, a Māori name (mangō aupounamu) and a scientific name (Prionace glauca).
Endemic, native and introduced species
Another way of labelling living things is by identifying them as endemic6, native7 or introduced. When something is endemic, it is native to only one location. Species endemic to New Zealand naturally occur only in New Zealand but may have been introduced elsewhere in the world. Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) (tutumairekurai or tūpoupou) is an example of an endemic marine mammal8.
Species native to New Zealand live in more than one country. They are either descendants from the ancient Gondwana9 or their ancestors swam, flew or were blown here. Dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) (aihe) populations10 are found in South America, south-western Africa and New Zealand.
An introduced species11 is an animal or plant that has been brought in by humans, either on purpose or by accident. The small black Asian mussel (Musculista senhousia) was accidentally introduced in the 1970s in ships’ ballast water.
Uniquely New Zealand
New Zealand is well known for its unusual species. Our country is made up of a few isolated islands, which is one reason that many of our plants and animals are endemic. It’s amazing to think that, on land, endemic species include:
- 80% of native conifers, ferns and flowering plants
- 100% of native frogs
- 90% of native insects
- 85% of native land birds
- 10% of native sea birds.
When we move from the land to New Zealand’s huge underwater area (the EEZ), the list of native and endemic species becomes truly enormous. Around 80% of our native species actually live in the ocean!
Nature of Science
Scientists working in conservation12 and biosecurity13 must be able to identify specific organisms correctly. This ensures that, when they are communicating with other people, there is no confusion about the exact organism14 they are referring to. They use the universal (worldwide) classification15 system.
Related content
Find out more on naming species and classification systems used.
Explore the Sustainable Seas Challenge.
Explore the differences between endemic, native and introduced bird species.
Useful links
Visit Te Ara website to learn more about native sea creatures including marine mammals and sea and shore birds.
Read about marine invaders – introduced marine species – on Te Ara website.
Go here to purchase a copy of the Young Ocean Explorers DVD and Love Our Ocean book.
- series: An electrical circuit layout where components are connected one after the other so that the current passes in a single path through the components.
- exclusive economic zone (EEZ): A seazone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a country has special rights concerning the exploration and use of marine resources. It extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from the coast.
- exclusive economic zone (EEZ): A seazone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a country has special rights concerning the exploration and use of marine resources. It extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from the coast.
- nautical mile: A unit of length used by sea and air navigators. By international agreement, it has been set at 1852 metres (about 6076 feet) – slightly longer than a mile.
- species: (Abbreviation sp. or spp.) A division used in the Linnean system of classification or taxonomy. A group of living organisms that can interbreed to produce viable offspring.
- endemic: Native to only one location. For example, species endemic to New Zealand naturally occur only in New Zealand but may have been introduced elsewhere in the world.
- native: A species that lives naturally in a country, as opposed to species that have been introduced by the activity of humans.
- mammal: A warm-blooded animal, such as a human being, dog or whale, the female of which produces milk from mammary glands to feed her young/newborn offspring.
- Gondwana: A continent (large landmass) in the Southern Hemisphere that eventually separated to form South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand. Gondwana separated from the supercontinent of Pangaea at the end of the Paleozoic Era and broke up into the current continents in the middle of the Mesozoic Era.
- population: In biology, a population is a group of organisms of a species that live in the same place at a same time and that can interbreed.
- introduced species: An animal or plant that has been transferred by humans, either on purpose or by accident, to somewhere it doesn’t live naturally.
- conservation: The protection, preservation and careful management of a species, habitat, artifact or taonga.
- biosecurity: The process of preventing, detecting and controlling unwanted pests and diseases.
- organism: A living thing.
- classification: To arrange or organise by a set of chosen characteristics. In biology, the process of ordering living things into a system that allows scientists to identify them. Modern science uses the Linnaean system of classification where organisms are grouped based on what species they are most closely related to. In soil science, the grouping of soils with a similar range of chemical, physical and biological properties into units that can be geo-referenced and mapped.
