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Velvet worms
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Velvet worms of Otago
Did you know four species of velvet worm living in Aotearoa New Zealand can be found in, or near, Otago?
Aotearoa New Zealand’s peripatus, a velvet-skinned, grey-blue, caterpillar-like creature, are little changed from 500 million years ago and have their own phylym: Onychophora.
Peripatus are commonly known as velvet worms from their velvety appearance and in Māori as ngāokeoke. They can be found throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, but are restricted to moist, dark microhabitats, and only come out at night to prey on other invertebrates, which they catch with jets of a sticky substance expelled from a pair of modified limbs.
Four species of velvet worm assessed nationally for their conservation status in the New Zealand Threat Classification System have been identified as being present, or near, Otago: Peripatoides taitonga, P. otepoti, Ooperipatellus viridimaculatus are confirmed in the region. Whereas P. waikaia is currently documented only from native forest towards the head of the Waikaia River just outside Otago’s boundary.
Peripatoides otepoti. Photo: Samuel Purdie
Ooperipatellus viridimaculatus. Photo: Samuel Purdie
Peripatoides otepoti. Photo: Samuel Purdie
Peripatoides otepoti. Photo: Samuel Purdie
Peripatoides otepoti. Photo: Samuel Purdie
Peripatoides otepoti. Photo: Samuel Purdie
Ooperipatellus viridimaculatus. Photo: Samuel Purdie
While only 12 species of Onychophora (two are Ooperipatellus and 10 species are Peripatoides) are currently assessed nationally for their conservation status, with four of them in, or near, the Otago Region. A recent study, however, suggests there may between 16 and 21 Ooperipatellus species and between 13 and 67 Peripatoides species endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand, i.e., found nowhere else on Earth. Further exploration of species-level diversity and distributions of Ooperipatellus and Peripatoides will likely lead to the confirmation of additional species, including in Otago.
A total of four species of Onychophora listed in the New Zealand Threat Classification System were identified as present, or near, the Otago Region. Three species were assessed as Regionally Not Threatened (Peripatoides otepoti, P. taitonga and Ooperipatellus viridimaculatus) and one species as Regionally Data Deficient (P. Waikaia).
Regional threat assessments
We have published threat assessments on various species' groups in our region.
Reports and publications - biodiversity
We have developed a range of resources on indigenous biodiversity in Otago, including regional threat assessment reports, educational factsheets and posters about species, and an online native planting guide to inform ecological restoration efforts.
