Eritrea
Plant species known
only from Eritrea include Aloe schoelleri (PlantFiles),
Echidnopsis
plowesiana (cactuskiev.com.ua),
Sansevieria erythraeae (p. 3 of nile.uib.no pdf file), a lavender Lavandula
erythraeae (JSTOR),
Gladiolus mensensis (JSTOR), a dayflower Commelina trachysperma (JSTOR),
a spurflower Plectranthus
(or Coleus) de-gasperisianns (JSTOR), a woundwort Stachys
bizensis (JSTOR),
a purslane Portulaca
erythraeae (JSTOR), Pavetta eritreensis (JSTOR),
Kohautia gracillima (JSTOR), and Cyphia eritreana (JSTOR).
Two snakes are unique to the Dahlak Islands:
the Big-headed Carpet Viper Echis
megalocephalus (Tomáš Mazuch) and the Dahlak Islands Racer
Coluber largeni (Tomáš Mazuch pdf file).
A frog Pelophylax (or Rana) demarchii (IUCN
Red List) is known from a single specimen and may not be a
valid species.
The only endemic freshwater fish are a cyprinid Garra ethelwynnae (Indian
Academy of Sciences) and a recently described cichlid Danakilia dinicolai (Cichlid Room Companion). Marine fish described from
Eritrea and apparently known from nowhere else include a combtooth
blenny Omobranchus
steinitzi (p. 103 of Smithsonian
pdf file), a deepwater dragonet Callionymus
bentuviai (Google Books),
a
goby Gobius leucomelas
(FishBase),
a snailfish Liparis
fishelsoni (FishBase),
a tilefish Hoplolatilus
oreni (p. 10 of FAO
pdf file), and
a stargazer
Uranoscopus dahlakensis (FishBase).
Insects found solely in Eritrea include a flower beetle Rhabdotis fortii (thais.it), a ground beetle Graphipterus galla (Carabidae of the World), a leaf beetle Apophylia trapezicollis (SysTax), the skin beetles Anthrenus paraclaviger (dermestidae.com) and Attagenus iserlei (dermestidae.com), a plant bug Orthotylus
massawanus (AMNH),
a
planthopper Derisa asper
(AMNH),
a grasshopper Stenoscepa
picta (OSF),
an ant Hypoponera orba (p. 84 of Zootaxa 10 MB pdf file), and a bee Lasioglossum
(or Halictus)
simulator
(p. 4 of AMNH
Digital Library pdf file). Other endemic
invertebrates include a scorpion Pandinus eritreaensis
(František
Kovařík), a crab spider Halodromus gershomi (ZooKeys), and a coneshell Conus nigromaculatus (Eddie Hardy).
Portions of Eritrea are included in the Eastern Afromontane (Biodiversity
Hotspots) and Horn of Africa (Biodiversity
Hotspots) biodiversity hotspots. Eritrea's marine
life is included in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coral reef hotspot (Reef
Guardian pdf file).