Pitcairn Islands
Birds found nowhere
else include the Henderson Crake (ARKive),
the Henderson Fruit-dove (ARKive),
the Henderson Lorikeet (WPT), the Henderson Reed-warbler (ARKive),
and the Pitcairn Reed-warbler (ARKive). The Henderson Petrel (ARKive) is endemic as a breeding species.
Marine fish unique to the Pitcairn Islands include the Pitcairn
Sandlance Ammodytoides
leptus (eol),
the Spiny Butterflyfish Hemitaurichthys
multispinus (Récif
France), the Henderson Triplefin Enneapterygius ornatus (Google Books),
and a squirrelfish Sargocentron
megalops (FishBase).
Insects known solely from the Pitcairn Islands include the Henderson
Hawkmoth Hippotion
hateleyi (CATE
Sphingidae) and a fruit fly Bactrocera setinervis
(p. 3 of SPC
pdf file). Endemic land snails include Tubuaia hendersoni
and Minidonta hendersoni
(both on p. 20 of UKOTCF
pdf file), Philonesia filiceti (stamps.gov.pn),
and the extinct Philonesia
pyramidalis (p. 17 of NCBI
pdf file)
and Pleuropoma
hendersoni (p. 9 of NCBI
pdf file). Marine endemics include a whelk Engina (or Tritonidea) rosacea (fig. 3 at Internet Archive), a starfish Allostichaster peleensis (eol), and a brittle star Amphilimna tanyodes (p. 11 of BioStor pdf file).
Among 19 vascular plant taxa restricted to the Pitcairn Islands are Peperomia hendersonensis
(Pflanzenwelt
Polynesiens), Abutilon
pitcairnense (ARKive),
Ixora fragrans (Pflanzenwelt
Polynesiens), Bidens
hendersonensis (NYBG),
Angiopteris
chauliodenta (JSTOR), Coprosma benefica (Kew),
Nesoluma
st.-johnianum (JSTOR),
Pandanus benignus
(NYBG), Myrsine hosakae (JSTOR), Glochidion pitcairnense (Kew),
Alyxia fosbergii (JSTOR),
and Homalium taypau (ARKive).
The
Henderson Island Sandalwood Santalum
hendersonense (Pflanzenwelt Polynesiens) is also sometime considered a full
species.
For summaries of the natural history of the Pitcairn Islands see (JNCC
pdf file), (Smithsonian pdf file), and the special issue on
Henderson Island in the Biological
Journal of the Linnean Society (Wiley
InterScience). The Pitcairn Islands are an overseas
territory of the United Kingdom.