Environmental regulation bodies emphasise the need to acquire data on local species to define locally acceptable pollution levels (ANZECC 2000, US EPA 2007). This is especially important for geographically isolated areas where many species are endemic or have isolated populations that might have evolved a different response to pollutants. In New Zealand, the regulations concerning the acceptable levels of pollutants and sediment on coastal organisms is based on the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) water quality criteria(WQC) (ANZECC 2000). Theses criteria have been developed mainly using data from Australian species, as few studies on local NZ species are available. However,given NZ geographic isolation and high endemism rate, it is especially important to verify whether the WQC are appropriate for local species.