Adventive occurrence in New Zealand of the scale-worm Paralepidonotus ampulliferus (Annelida: Polychaeta: Polynoidae)

The distinctive polynoid Paralepidonotus ampulliferus is known to be distributed across the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, and is present around much of the Australian coast. It is reported here for New Zealand for the first time, and a description is provided. The scale-worm has been found subtidally in Whangarei Harbour, and is widespread around the soft-shores of Waitemata Harbour (Auckland) and nearby Hauraki Gulf inlets, with the earliest record dating from late 1998. Surveys before 2003 in Waitemata Harbour, Whangarei Harbour, and elsewhere around New Zealand had not detected the species. Its presence in New Zealand is evaluated as unlikely to have been achieved without human-mediated assistance.