The Asian kelpUndaria pinnatifida(Phaeophyta: Laminariales) found in a New Zealand harbour

Abstract

The kelp Undaria pinnatifida (Phaeophyta: Laminariales), native to Japan, Korea and parts of China, has been found growing subtidally to 7 m depth over a 4 km stretch of the shoreline of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. In August 1987, some sporophytes were up to 1.3 m tall with fully developed sporophylls. Circumstantial evidence suggests Japanese and Korean fishing vessels may have carried Undaria to New Zealand within the last nine years. This is the second record of Undaria being inadvertently introduced to shores beyond Asia, and it is the first record of its occurrence in the Southern Hemisphere.