Part III. The fauna of the Tristan da Cunha Islands

Abstract

1. Introduction Tristan da Cunha, Inaccessible, Nightingale and Gough Islands are similar in climate, physiography and vegetation, and form a single biogeographical province. Many animal species, including some endemics, occur on all of them, and the faunas of the four islands have the same general characteristics and show a common relationship to stocks in temperate South America. Any discussion of the fauna of the group must therefore consider all four main islands. Such a general evaluation is rendered difficult by variations in the intensity of study of the different islands and of different taxonomic groups. It is probably true today that the native land fauna of the archipelago is adequately known in outline, and that no native vertebrate or abundant large terrestrial invertebrate species awaits discovery. However, the smallei and less conspicuous land invertebrates and the majority of the shallow-water marine organisms are undoubtedly underworked, and much remains to be discovered about the detailed distribution, ecology and interrelationships of the island faunas. The present paper is no more than an interim review of the extent and deficiency of current knowledge.