The ark and the algorithm

Open Bay Island Leech

In the early 20th century, a botanist looking for weta on Open Bay Island, off the coast of Haast, was bitten on the hand. The culprit was a leech species.

Eighty-four years later, a scientist was photographing penguins under a boulder on the island when he was bitten on the eyelid. The leech had re-emerged.

Few species are as elusive as the Open Bay Island leech, which feeds on the feet of nesting birds, specifically penguins. The last time one was seen was in the 1990s, when the world’s entire known population appeared to be living beneath a single rock.

Hamilton’s Frog

New Zealand’s four endemic frogs are small, don’t croak, and don’t have a tadpole stage – they grow in small gelatinous sacs and hatch as froglets, effectively miniature frogs.

Hamilton’s frog is the largest of our frog species, and the rarest. Almost the entire population lives on what is known as Frog Peak on Stephens Island, in Cook Strait.

The Eyelash Seaweed

The red, stringy seaweed is both the size and shape of an eyelash, and appears only at certain times of the day. It was discovered in 2005, and has been found only in Kaiko¯ ura – more specifically, on two individual boulders, each on a different part of the coast.

Teviot Flathead Galaxias

While only one native fish species has been known to have become extinct (the grayling – ironically, our only fish with specific protection), the Teviot flathead galaxias is the closest to joining it.

The small fish is found only in a few streams near the Teviot River in Central Otago. Its habitat covers an area roughly the size of half a rugby field, most of which is on private land.

Tepakiphasma Ngatikuri

Only two of these stick insects have ever been found, both in Radar Bush at the northernmost tip of the North Island.

New Zealand has 23 known stick insect species, but Tepakiphasma is notably different from other New Zealand stick insects – it has more teeth on its claspers, and its egg has a perforated cone.

Three Kings Kaikomako

The small tree with glossy green leaves is endemic to one of the Three Kings Islands, north of Cape Reinga. They were probably widespread on the island before the introduction of goats, which ravaged the species until only one tree remained, on a steep slope near the peak of the main island.

Because the tree was female, and did not produce seed, it was thought to be the last tree that could exist. But after several decades, researchers managed to get the plant to produce seeds, and the species was cultivated.