 The red gurnard is the most common gurnard in New-Zealand (Lang, 2000).It is found in all the coastal waters around both the north and south islands (FAO,1981; Roberts, et al., 2015) except the southern fiords (Eichelsheim, 2010; Elder, 1976; Powell, 1947), and also Stewart, the Chathams, and Kermadec Islands (NIWA, 2012).There are large population hotspots around  the Bay of Plenty, Hawke  Bay, Bank's Peninsula, the Foveaux Strait, the west coast of the North Island, and the north  and northwest coasts of the South Island.