The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) across and about 2,800 km (1,700 mi) from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 was the first known person to cross it. British explorer Lieutenant James Cook later extensively navigated the Tasman Sea in the 1770s during his three voyages of exploration.
The Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands are a group of 13 uninhabited islands about 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest of Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua, New Zealand, where the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge. They measure 6.85 km2 (2.64 sq mi) in area. The islands are on a submarine plateau, the Three Kings Bank, and are separated from the New Zealand mainland by an 8 km wide, 200 to 300 m deep submarine trough. Therefore, despite relative proximity to the mainland, the islands are listed with the New Zealand Outlying Islands. The islands are an immediate part of New Zealand, but not part of any region or district, but instead Area Outside Territorial Authority, like all the other outlying islands except the Solander Islands.
The New Zealand bellbird, also known by its Māori names korimako, makomako, and kōmako, is a passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It has greenish colouration and is the only living member of the genus Anthornis. The bellbird forms a significant component of the famed New Zealand dawn chorus of bird song that was much noted by early European settlers. The explorer Captain Cook wrote of its song "it seemed to be like small bells most exquisitely tuned". The species is common across much of New Zealand and its offshore islands as well as the Auckland Islands.
Rhopalostylis is a genus of two species of palms native to the South Pacific. Both are smooth-trunked, with regular ringed scars from fallen leaves. The leaves are 3–5 m in length, and the leaf bases encircle the trunk.
Paraneonetus is a monotypic genus of wētā containing the species Paraneonetus multispinus, commonly known as the Three Kings cave wētā. P. multispinus is a cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to the Three Kings Islands of New Zealand.
Tecomanthe speciosa is a species of subtropical forest lianes. A single specimen was first discovered on Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, 55 km off the northern tip of New Zealand, during a scientific survey in 1945. No other specimens have ever been found in the wild. Tecomanthe is a tropical genus not otherwise represented in New Zealand. Four other species of Tecomanthe occur in Queensland, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
Thomas Frederick Cheeseman was a New Zealand botanist. He was also a naturalist who had wide-ranging interests, such that he even described a few species of sea slugs.
Cordyline obtecta is a widely branching monocot tree native to Norfolk Island, and to northern New Zealand. The species name obtecta derives from the Latin obtegere, alluding to the way the inflorescence barely protruded beyond the leaves in the plant first described.
Haliotis virginea, Virgin pāua, is a species of edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Haliotidae, the abalones.
Pennantia baylisiana, commonly known as Three Kings kaikōmako or kaikōmako manawatāwhi (Māori), is a species of plant in the family Pennantiaceae. It is endemic to Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, around 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest of Cape Reinga, New Zealand. At the time of its discovery just one plant remained. This single tree grows on a scree slope inaccessible to browsing goats, and has been called "the world's loneliest tree". The species was discovered in 1945 by botanist Geoff Baylis and described in 1948, although it took decades before it was it was fully accepted as a distinct species of Pennantia. Although the only wild tree is female, it was successfully propagated from cuttings in the 1950s, one of which was induced to self-pollinate in 1985. Subsequent seed-grown plants have themselves set seeds, and the species has been replanted on the island, the adjoining mainland, and in public and private gardens around New Zealand.
Pennantia is the sole genus in the plant family Pennantiaceae. In older classifications, it was placed in the family Icacinaceae. Most authorities have recognised three or four species, depending on whether they recognised Pennantia baylisiana as a separate species from Pennantia endlicheri. British-born botanist David Mabberley has recognised two species.
Laemophloeidae, "lined flat bark beetles," is a family in the superfamily Cucujoidea characterized by predominantly dorso-ventrally compressed bodies, head and pronotal discs bordered by ridges or grooves, and inverted male genitalia. Size range of adults is 1–5 mm (0.04–0.2 in) in length. Currently, it contains 40 genera and about 450 species, and is represented on all continents except Antarctica; species richness is greatest in the tropics.
Silvanidae, "silvan flat bark beetles", is a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea, consisting of 68 described genera and about 500 described species. The family is represented on all continents except Antarctica, and is most diverse at both the generic and species levels in the Old World tropics.
The Northland temperate kauri forests is an ecoregion in northern New Zealand, within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome.
Protodendrophagus is a genus of beetles in the family Silvanidae. The single described species, Protodendrophagus antipodes, is known only from several localities high in the mountains of South Island, New Zealand, where it has been found under rocks.
Turbott's weevil is a weevil that is endemic to New Zealand. It has been found on the Hen and Chicken Islands, the Poor Knights Islands and the Three Kings Islands.
Cryptamorpha desjardinsii, known generally as the Desjardin's beetle or Desjardin's flat beetle, is a species of silvanid flat bark beetle in the family Silvanidae. It is found in the Caribbean, North America, Oceania, Europe, and New Zealand. It varies in size from 3.4 to 4.4 millimetres.
Tyrannomolpus is a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Eumolpinae. It is known only from Three Kings Islands, New Zealand. It contains only one species, Tyrannomolpus rex. T. rex is the largest chrysomelid beetle species endemic to New Zealand, measuring between 9.7 and 11.9 mm, and may be an example of island gigantism. It has a dark bronzy-green color with a metallic luster. Tyrannomolpus is closest to the genus Pilacolaspis from the mainland of New Zealand.
Amychus manawatawhi, commonly known as the Three Kings click beetle, is a large flightless click beetle in the family Elateridae, found only on the Three Kings Islands of New Zealand.
Coptomma marrisi is a species of longhorn beetle only known from Great Island in the Three Kings Islands, New Zealand.
