Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Te Papa researchers: Bruce Marshall (Research Associate) and Kerry Walton
Aotearoa New Zealand has roughly 5,000 living marine mollusc species, as well as one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones in the world, spanning subtropical to subantarctic climates. An in-depth understanding of our molluscs enables researchers to understand how organisms disperse, how to improve marine protection outcomes, and predict how ecosystems might respond to environmental change.
Our upcoming Manual of New Zealand marine Mollusca (Te Papa Press, ~2,000 pgs) will greatly expand published information about their diversity and distribution. Additional work examines how mollusc communities are changing through time, using extensive data from Te Papa to depict biogeographic and biodiversity trends.
Main collaborators: Kat Bolstad, Auckland University of Technology; Tony Enderby (ret.; Hamish Spencer, University of Otago
Representative publications:
Walton, K., Marshall, B.A., Spencer, H.G. (2023) Chapter 14. Kingdom Animalia, phylum Mollusca (clams, slugs, snails, cephalopods, & kin). Pp. 215–237 in: Kelly, M., Mills, S., Terezow, M., Sim-Smith, C., Nelson, W. (Eds) The Marine Biota of Aotearoa New Zealand. Updating our marine biodiversity inventory. NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 136, 494 pp.
Bruce Marshall and Kerry Walton sort a rotten baleen sample looking for small molluscs. Te Papa
A section of decaying baleen covered in Baleenopelta rotunda – a genus and species of limpet recently described by Te Papa scientists. Photo by Te Papa
Falsimargarita callista Marshall, 2016, Photo by Jean-Claude Stahl. Te Papa (M.336711)
Te Papa fish experts Andrew Stewart and Thom Linley, and mollusc expert Kerry Walton, are part of a team that discovered well over 100 new animal species in the depths of the Bounty Trough, east of the South Island.
Te Papa researchers are presently contributing to palaeogenetic research into the diversity of endangered species of the large land-snail genera Maoristylus, Paryphanta, and Powelliphanta.
Research understanding the fish and mollusca diversity within our waters, focusing on new species discovery and species associations.
