New Zealand-Caribbean

[john grehan]

As an example of how backward the state of biogeographic science has become
in New Zealand since continuation of the panbiogeographic research program
was made impossible by NZ Science Foundation policy, the newspaper "The
Dominion Post" (August 10, 2002) reported on the occurrence of mussels and
corals on the Kermadec Volcanic Arc (northeast of NZ) that have close
relatives only in the Gulf of Mexico.

A Dr. Steven O'Shea in the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research was quoted as saying that he was at a loss to explain this
'curious' long-distance relationship. One does not have to be a
panbiogeographer per se to know that the pattern is not all that much of a
curiosity as many taxa have representatives in the Western Pacific and the
New World. The Kermadec situation is simply a very geographically
restricted component, and as for 'explanation', if one is looking for
current geological models as 'explanation' there are a variety of island
arc/microcontinental plate models in circulation that provide a historical
connection between NZ and the Caribbean. The elimination of panbiogeography
in New Zealand has been so pervasive that natural history left with back
with classical Darwinian biogeography that constantly replays mysteries
that do not exist, and curiosities that are commonplace. The situations
shows that science can actually degrade at a national level from a former
state of more advanced knowledge.

John Grehan