Endemic species of Ilha Trindade & Martim Vaz, Brazil.

I am making this list because in hours of research, I have not found any single source listing all of the endemics of the island. It appears that no such list exists online in English or Portuguese. Fish endemics listed include those recorded on the Vitória-Trindade seamounts.

Video with photos of many of the species

Recovery of endemic plants following eradication of goats in 2005

Natural History

Currently missing/absent from iNat taxonomy:

  • Hemionitis (Doryopteris) campos-portoi (a fern)
  • Psilotum triquetrum f. insulare (not accepted by POWO) (a fork fern)
  • Entomacrodus sp. (undescribed: Blenniidae)
  • Enneanectes sp. (undescribed: Tripterygiidae)
  • Arcos sp. (undescribed: Gobiesocidae)
  • Acyrtus sp. (undescribed: Gobiesocidae) [iNat obs.]
  • Lythrypnus sp. (undescribed: Gobiidae) (2 species)
  • Tomicodon sp. (undescribed: Gobiesocidae) [iNat obs.]

Trindade/Atlantic Lesser Frigatebird (F. ariel trinitatis) is debatably a full species, but has not been accepted by taxonomic authorities predominately due to small sample size/limited data of (link: 2017 SACC proposal). The population is now limited to a single rocky islet on the south side of Trindade (not nesting on the main island) and numbers less than 20 pairs.

Note: Trindade Petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana) is not endemic, additionally breeding on Round Island, Mauritius. The populations are not reproductively isolated (Brown et al., 2010).


One of the more interesting endemics: "The beetle, Liagonum beckeri, is almost certainly the world’s most extreme example of narrow endemism. The population is restricted to a wet rock of <1 m2, inside a deep ravine. About 20 individuals of this beetle are visible at any time. In 1959, it was discovered there by the late Professor Johann Becker, entomologist of the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, and was described by Jeannel (1961). In 1994-95, we spent two months searching the entire Island, but only found the population on the very same spot as the Becker population. The beetles run around only on those parts of the rock that are covered with a green algal biofilm. The population was last revisited in 2002 and many individuals were observed." - Source (same as abv)


Other species-specific links: Succinea lopesi, F. ariel trinitatis / F. minor nicolli photos, Plantago trinitatis, Ophiothrix trindadensis, Centrostephanus besnardi, Clypeaster oliveirai, Scartella poiti, Halichoeres rubrovirens,