This box shows the picture of the species. The picture may be a photograph or a painting. The pictures are copy righted; please refer to the section on Front Page Photo at the bottom of the page for the name of the photographer

This section describes the physical description and body size (from young to adult).  Some acronyms are used, e.g. TL, FL, SVL; these are referred to in the text, but also refer to the glossary section for the definitions of these terms. There is also a reference to other similar species and features that distinguish them apart.

The descriptions of species here are not meant to serve as the only identification key to the plants or animals; they are in layman’s terms, and are very brief. There are relevant and more detailed guide books to aid in identification and descriptions of Fiji’s species. We trust that you will use this website as a stepping stone towards discovering more about the taxonomy and associated terminology on Fiji’s unique wildlife.

Figure 1: Map of the Fiji Islands. Adapted with permission from Morrison (2003).

This section only describes the current distribution. While some notes on the historical distribution of the species may be referred to in this section, the sections on Conservation status and the Remarks and Cultural Significance will cover the historical distribution of the species in more detail.

The red dots on the map indicate the general area in which the species is currently found. Due to the lack of information on the historical distribution of most of the species, the historical distribution is not shown on the map.

Note that the map produced in this section within the species accounts is intentionally blank. Below is a labelled map which shows the major islands of Fiji and some islands relevant to this project. There are other resources for maps available online, in atlases, and books about Fiji that produce political maps, topographic maps, relief maps, geology maps, and soil maps of Fiji.

We advise that you also refer to the above maps for a better understanding of the geography of Fiji.

This section covers the known habitat, ecology and behaviour of the species, as recorded by scientists and communities. Some species have more information than others simply because they have been studied, while others are still relatively unknown to science.

Some information in this section is not scientific, with records of comments from those in our villages and communities who are more familiar with these species, and therefore are the more knowledgeable scientists.

This is more formally known as Traditional environmental knowledge, which we mention in the “Remarks and Cultural Significance” section.

This section covers current and possible threats to viable populations of the species. In many instances, there is simply not enough information available on the species, so possible threats based on the limited information are highlighted.

This section covers several issues: the current conservation status as a threatened species, its historical distribution (if the information is available), and current conservation measures. There may be some overlap between this section and the Threats section.

This section is the most wide-ranging in terms of the information it contains. The information ranges from the traditional knowledge about the species to its importance to the maintenance of the ecosystem, who discovered it, associated myths and legends, totemism and other relevant interesting facts about the species.

Within each species account, the references of authors or persons from whom the information was gathered are cited as (Name, date). A more comprehensive list of references cited is attached at the end of the Endangered Species of Fiji web page. This can be accessed by clicking on “References”, the heading of this section.
The papers cited are not available on this webpage, and it may be difficult to acquire the relevant papers, particularly those from scientific journals not available to Fiji and the South Pacific region.

We advise that you seek out the authors and email or write to them for a copy of the paper. There are many researchers who will send you a re-print of their journal articles and work if you ask.. Some papers are available for free online, and others at a cost.
The References Cited section at the end of the Endangered Species of Fiji webpage follows the “USP Style examples” in the referencing resource: “Three Rs for Academic Success: Research, Recording and Referencing: Guidelines for Students doing Library, Internet and Field Research” by Thaman and Pene (2004).

Front Page Photo
This section gives the name of the photographer of the main picture in each species account and relevant information.