Along New Zealand’s Shorelines

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31659, 20 April 1968, Page 4

Along New Zealand’s Shorelines

(Reviewed by H.1W.1 The New Zealand Sea Shore. By John Morton and Michael Miller. Collins. 594 pp. and glossary, bibliography and Index. This is a magnificent, comprehensive book, packed with interesting information on the communities of animals and plants living along New Zealand's shorelines. The text is substantial; the main part occupies 594 pages and is followed by a glossary explaining unavoidable technical terms, a bibliography of recent scientific papers for those who wish to probe further, a handy classification of the seashore animals and plants and an index. The illustrations are superb; there are about 1400 line drawings of animals, plants and situations and 170 plate figures—lo 3 of the latter are in colour. These illustrations convey an enormous amount of information clearly and attractively.

The authors’ objectives are set out in their preface. They felt that marine studies in New Zealand had attracted a growing number of biologists over the last generation and that a general book describing the way animals and plants live along the seashore was needed—particularly by university people, teachers, students, schoolchildren, and leisure-time naturalists. One could not agree more. Much of the detailed scientific information has not been readily available to anyone except scientists. The authors did not set out to produce an identification handbook, or an account of animals and plants: they tried “to present the story of the living communities and of the species that comprise them not from a structural or taxonomic viewpoint, but to show how they are adapted to live where they do, in harmony

and in contest with each other.” This sensible theme motivates the whole book. The first section deals with zones and habitats; the classical highlights of the seashore communities. Basic concepts (names and classifications, the moulding of the seashore, the role of the tides), are introduced crisply and accurately, together with descriptions of the associations of animals and plants one finds on various parts of the shore. They discuss zonation, the animals living under boulders, the organisms on reef fringes, in tide pools, on fronds and in the holdfasts of seaweeds and in rock crevices. The pages abound with condensed concepts and very lively descriptions of animals, plants and situations. These zones and habitats occur on rocky shores along most of the New Zealand coastline so that if the reader chooses, she or he may select one and really learn something about it.

The same approach is used in sections two and three, which describe the inhabitants and associations of hard and soft shore lines respectively. This subdivision puts all readers—from young ones with their first seashore “find” to scientists coming across an animal or plant they are hazy about—at a decided advantage, for all you have to do is decide if you are on a hard rocky shore, or on a soft sandy or muddy shore, turn to the appropriate section and start flicking through the illustrations. Soon you will find an illustration depicting, or closely resembling, your specimen (providing it is a shore inhabitant and not just something washed up by the sea). The rest is easy; the scientific name will probably be given under the illustration and by using the index and browsing around on nearby pages you will very rapidly learn what is known, not only about your specimen, but also about the other animals and plants it is associated with. This is enjoyable, because all of us. when tracking down information, are pleased and thrilled when it tumbles out rapidly. Section two deals with com munities from many different parts of New Zealand. There are, for instance, accounts of shores at Auckland, Cook Strait, Otago Harbour, offshore islands and many other places. There are also sections on collecting and mounting seaweeds, rock-oyster reefs, wharf-pile communities and larval settlement. Section three concentrates more on beaches, harbours, river mouths and sediments. Both these sections contain an astonishing amount of data on the animal and plant communities and show clearly that the authors have read and analysed a vast number of scientific papers. This book is a credit to the authors and their associates and an asset to New Zealand. In scope and interpretation it is far better than the equivalent books dealing with Australian, western North American and British shores. Its effect will be felt far beyond New Zealand’s shores.