Tag Archives: Tasmania

Sympterichthys unipennis (Cuvier)

Smooth Handfish (Sympterichthys unipennis)

The Smooth Handfish, described in 1817, is known from a single specimen (see photo below) that was collected in 1802 (see photo below); it was restricted to a very small area in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel offshore southern Tasmania, Australia.

The species is only about 4.4 cm long; it is strongly compressed and has rough skin without warty protuberances; it is reddish brown, marbled with darker brown.

The Smooth Handfish very likely fell victim to the intensive scallop- and oyster harvesting that went on in the area between the 19th and mid-20th centuries, which dredged every part of the channel, resulting in the destruction of the species’ habitat.

The species was declared extinct in 2020; yet there is still some hope that a small population may have survived somewhere around southern Tasmania.

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syn. Chironectes unipennis Cuvier

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Photo: Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/deed.en

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edited: 22.02.2024

Deyeuxia lawrencei Vickery

Lawrence’s Bentgrass (Deyeuxia lawrencei)  

Lawrence’s Bentgrass was described in 1940, it is known only from the type specimen that was collected around 1831 probably somewhere near the city of Launceston in the northern part of Tasmania, Australia.  

The species was never recorded again since and is thougth to be extinct. [1]  

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References:  

[1] Mark Wapstra; Fred Duncan; Alex Buchanan; Richard Schahinger: Finding a botanical Lazarus: Tales of Tasmanian plant species ‘risen from the dead’. The Tasmanian Naturalist 128: 61-85. 2006  

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edited: 08.01.2019

Costora iena Mosely

Great Lake Caddisfly (Costora iena)

The Great Lake Caddisfly was described in 1936; it was apparently restricted to the Shannon River including the Shannon Lagoon as well as the Great Lake in the center of Tasmania.

The species was mainly fuscous brown colored and reached a wingspan of about 2 cm.

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edited: 23.04.2022

Festuca archeri E. B. Alexeev

Archer’s Fescue (Festuca archeri)  

Archer’s Fescue, described in 1987, is known only from the type material that was collected at an unknown locality and that consists only of the upper part of a single culm and its inflorescence.

The species is very doubtful and may in fact not even be valid. [1]

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References:  

[1] Mark Wapstra; Fred Duncan; Alex Buchanan; Richard Schahinger: Finding a botanical Lazarus: Tales of Tasmanian plant species ‘risen from the dead’. The Tasmanian Naturalist 128: 61-85. 2006  

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edited: 15.01.2024

Senecio tasmanicus I. Thomps.

Tasmanian Fireweed (Senecio tasmanicus)

The Tasmanian Fireweed was described in 2004; it was very likely long extinct at that time.

The species was endemic to the island of Tasmania, where it was found at an unspecified place in the northern Midlands; it probably grew at lowland plains near swamps; it was actually last recorded in the mid 1800s and is now very likely extinct. [1]

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References:

[1] Mark Wapstra; Ian Thompson; Alex Buchanan: An illustrated and annotated key to the Tasmanian species of Senecio (Asteraceae). Kanunnah 3: 49-93. 2008

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edited: 13.08.2022

Ozothamnus selaginoides Sonder & F. Muel.

Clubmoss Everlasting (Ozothamnus selaginoides)  

This species was described in 1853.  

The Clubmoss Everlasting, also known as Table Mountain Daisy Bush, was restricted to the Table Mountain area in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, Australia.  

It was a slender, branching shrub between 0,5 to 1 m tall, the branches were covered with tiny hairs. Its daisy-like flower-heads, consisting of eight to 12 single flowers, appeared in dense clusters at the ends of the branches, they were creamy-yellow.  

The species was not found since 1849 and is believed to be extinct.  

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Depiction from: ‘J. D. Hooker: The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843: under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. London: Reeve Brothers 1844-1860’  

(not in copyright)

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edited: 06.11.2017