Seventeen species of dinoflagellate resting cysts have been recorded for the first time in New Zealand. Isolated from sediments at 93 locations in the Marlborough Sounds, these wereGonyaulax spinifera, G. grindleyi, G. polyedra, G. digitalis, Gonyaulaxsp.,Protoperidinium sub‐inerme, P. pentagonum, P. conicum, P. oblongum, P. leonis, P. cfpunctulatum, P. cf.conicoides, Per‐idinium stellatum, Peridiniumsp.,Scrippsiella tro‐choidea, Polykrikos schwartzii, andDiplopsalissp. here possible their identities were confirmed by hatching experiments yielding live motile cells. Greatest cyst concentrations and species diversity were found in Kenepuru Sound and Tennyson Inlet. These areas may be more likely to harbour toxic species causing paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) or diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) if these were to appear in the future.