Ecology and Distribution of Some Pelagic Hyperiidea 
(Crustacea, Amphipoda) from New Zealand Waters 
B. M. Bary^ 
The marine pelagic Amphipoda recorded 
from New Zealand have been discussed sys- 
tematically (Stephensen, 1927; Barnard, 1930, 
1932; Hurley, 1955), but few data are avail- 
able on their distribution and ecology. The 
situation in Australia (Barnard, 1931; Dakin 
and Colefax, 1933, 1940) and South Africa 
(Stebbing, 1910; Barnard, 1916, 1925, 1940) 
is similar. However, in antarctic latitudes 
some features of the ecology of amphipods 
have been fairly extensively treated (Mackin- 
tosh, 1934, 1937; Hardy and Gunther, 1935). 
The data presented herein are of collections 
made from the survey-frigate H.M.N.Z.S. 
"Lachlan,” in southern New Zealand waters, 
during the summer of 1951. The hyperiids 
from these collections have been identified by 
D. E. Hurley, who generously undertook this 
taxonomic study (Hurley, 1955). 
Fourteen species were present in the collec- 
tions. Seven of these were new records for 
New Zealand. Five species, namely, Parathe- 
misto {Euthemisto) gaudichaudii (Guer.), P. 
australis (Stebbing), P. gracilipes (Norman), 
Cyllopus magellanicus Dana, and C. macropis 
Bovallius, were present in sufficient numbers 
to permit discussing some features of their 
ecology, especially their relationships to the 
water masses in the area about southern New 
Zealand. The remaining nine species were of 
rare occurrence, although their biological 
^ New Zealand Defence Scientific Corps, c/o Navy 
Office, Wellington, N.Z. Now at Oceanographic Lab- 
oratory, 78 Craighall Road, Edinburgh 6, Scotland. 
Manuscript received May 21, 1957. 
and environmental associations provoke dis- 
cussion. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
The writer gratefully acknowledges Dr. D. 
E. Hurley’s identification of the amphipod 
material, useful discussions of data, and read- 
ing of typescripts and proofs. 
MATERIAL AND METHODS 
Details of the areas from which collections 
were made, the gear and the methods, are 
discussed elsewhere (Bary, 1956, 1959). The 
areas sampled extended between Wellington 
and Dunedin (one cruise in January, a second 
in March, 1951), between Dunedin and Fo- 
veaux Strait (during January through March), 
and between Wellington and Auckland and 
Campbell islands, about 400 miles south of 
New Zealand (one cruise, November, 1951). 
(See Figs. 5, 6.) Procedure and gear were 
standardized: tows were of 3 minutes at \Vi 
to 2 knots, within the surface metre of water, 
using a net of graded silks, 50 cm. in diameter. 
Of the 80 samples, those of Stations 74-85 
were collected whilst the ship was at anchor 
overnight in a tidal stream in western Foveaux 
Strait (Bary, 1956). Although the temperature 
was taken at each of these, salinity was de- 
termined only for Station 79- Therefore, only 
this station is shown in the various figures. 
All of the rare species collected at Stations 
74-85 are shown as being captured at Station 
79 in Figures 2, 5^. Of the common species, 
only those captured at Station 79 are illus- 
317 
