10. Pegasus Bay/Canterbury Bight
Map ID Number: 10
Location: Waitaki River to north of Waimakariri River
Approximate area: 22,28km2
Description of area:
Long, exposed, soft-shore coastline with a major rocky headland, Banks Peninsula. There is high primary productivity at times in the Canterbury Bight.
Biological attributes:
Stokell’s smelt (Stokellia anisodon) is endemic to the eastern South Island. It is the only diadromous freshwater fish species that does not have a New Zealand-wide range. The reasons for this restricted range are not understood, but may relate to enclosure of a triangular area of sea inside the current system that passes north from Otago and along the Canterbury coast. Interestingly, this is the same area inhabited by the introduced Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) population, which undergoes natural dispersion in the sea. Other notable species found in this area include basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), elephantfish (Callorhinchus milii), and red cod (Pseudophycis bachus). Basking sharks are common in spring and summer from the edge of the shelf to the coast, and even in Lake Ellesmere. During this period elephantfish form spawning aggregations and lay their eggs in shallow water. Red cod also form large aggregations in some years.
Criteria applied:
Species richness; endemism; dependency for other species; trophic/functional diversity; representation (i.e. across physical types); degree of disturbance; seasonal/migratory importance; unusual degree/proportion of biomass; aggregations; habitat complexity/ diversity; meeting ground – overlap between biological regions (at national and global regions level).
Status and management:
There are major fisheries along this coast, and some estuaries and bays are heavily impacted by human shore-based activities.
State of information:
The fish fauna has been intensively studied, especially on the continental shelf and upper continental slope.
References and further reading:
Beentjes and Renwick (2001), Beentjes et al. (2002), Francis (1997), Francis and Duffy (2002), Gorman (1963), McDowall (1990).