Taputeranga Marine Reserve

On September 24 Jean Roger (@jeanro) photographed a tiny, bright orange flatworm at the Sirens (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/95958850; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96063712). I mistook it for the tiny, similarly coloured dorid nudibranch Vayssierea cinnabarea but after a couple of iterations Geoff Read (@readgb) identified it as the poorly known acoel Polychoerus gordoni Achatz, Hooge, Wallberg, Jondelius & Tyler, 2009 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1439-0469.2009.00555.x). Jean’s observation prompted Geoff to post his original observation of the species from the Sirens (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96033247). He collected the then undescribed species during the 2007 pre-marine reserve Bioblitz. The circularity of these observations is a very good example of the value of citizen science in documenting biodiversity through both the bioblitz concept and the power of iNat to connect naturalists, wildlife photographers, students and other scientists with taxonomists.

By my count this project has documented 523 species from the marine reserve. Still big gaps in many of the smaller, cryptic, 'less photogenic' groups, particularly subtidal benthic species. less ↑