Plankton form an essential link in the production of living material, and ultimately of human food in the sea. In general, marine plankton are world-wide in distribution, so that New Zealand species are often identical with those from, say, the English Channel. Some, however, when they are examined more closely, prove to be slightly different from their northern counterparts. For example, the New Zealand Calanus helgolandicus, the best known of all the copepods, has now been given a new name, Calanus australis, by a Russian scientist who recently visited our waters.

by Richard Morrison Cassie, M.SC.(N.Z.), D.SC.(AUCK.), Senior Lecturer in Zoology, University of Auckland.