Seamounts
Map ID Number: Not mapped during the workshop
Location: Throughout the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone
Approximate area: Not recorded during the workshop
Description of area:
Over 500 submarine seamounts with an elevation greater than 250 m above the sea floor, and a further 300 between 100 and 250m, have been identified in the New Zealand region. These seamounts vary in shape and size and occur singly or in groups. Some have steep slopes with rugged tops, while others are more knoll-like with large, relatively flat tops.
Biological attributes:
Many seamounts have endemic species, but there has been insufficient sampling effort to confirm whether this endemism is confined to particular seamounts, or groups of seamounts. There are aggregations of some fish species around bathymetric features, especially Beryciform fishes including orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus). Upwellings and tidal eddies concentrate phytoplankton biomass over seamounts and attract larger numbers of fish.
Criteria applied:
Species diversity; species richness; endemism; dependency for other species; trophic/functional diversity; representation (i.e. across physical types); conservation status/threat classification both nationally and globally; degree of disturbance; special conditions and specialised organisms; seasonal/migratory importance; unusual degree/proportion of biomass; aggregations; special phylogenetic grouping; habitat complexity/diversity.
Status and management:
Trawling is prohibited on 19 seamounts in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
State of information:
Little information is available, but seamounts are a subject of increasing research.
References and further reading:
Clark et al. (2000), Tracey et al. (2004).