Black and white, with the pattern varying across its range. The back of its neck, upper tail and shoulders (on its wings) are white in males and grey in females, and (across most of Australia) the rest of its body is black. In south-eastern, central and south-western Australia, including Tasmania, its back and rump are entirely white. Its eye is red-brown. Young birds are usually grey rather than black and have dark eyes.

Distinctive feature

One toe faces backwards and three face forwards. It has a square-tipped tail.

A medium shorebird with long skinny legs and a long beak. The Oystercatcher has a black head and black with a white belly, orange-red eyes, and very distinctive orange legs and beak.

Size

50 cm long (from head to tail)

A type of marine snail (mollusc) with a distinctive round or globe-shaped shell, black or dark grey in colour. The older snails will sometime have a white patch at the flattened tip (apex) of the spirals (whorls) due to weathering.

Nerites have a white aperture (where the snail comes out) with a black rim and they usually have a black operculum (shell door or lid) which is sometimes spotted orange.

Its pear-shaped float (bottle) is a translucent blue, with a wrinkled top which might be tinged with green or pink. It has a single main tentacle, and many shorter tentacles, all of which are blue and hang from its float.

It is not a single animal but rather a colony of four kinds of individuals known as polyps. Each polyp has its own function: one is the float, another captures food, another digests the food, and another is responsible for reproduction.

Size

Float is 2 – 15 cm long, and tentacles up to 10 m.

It has a blue float made of a flat, circular disc with many gas-filled tubes which keep it afloat. The disc is surrounded by tiny blue tentacles.

The Blue Button is, in fact, a colony made up of different types of polyps, including some that are specialised for catching food, defense, or reproduction.

Size

Its disc is up to 2.5 cm across.

Small marine snails (molluscs), often called Australwinks.

They are light blue to grey in colour and have a smooth shell that spirals up to a light brown to reddish-brown sharp tip (apex).

Size

10 - 15 mm

Olive brown to black and has irregular pale bands on the body and tail. The head is often lighter in colour and can have orange flecks on the top and sides.

There are four subspecies with some variations:

  • Eastern Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa aspera) Similar to western bobtail but with a darker belly, larger body scales and a shorter fatter tail
  • Western Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa rugosa) Similar to eastern and northern but paler belly and longer tail, larger ear and pale irregular bands on the back
  • Rottnest Island Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa konowi) Yellow belly.
  • Northern Bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa palarra) Similar to western bobtail with a smaller ear and usually no pale irregular bands on the back

Size

Total length 45cm.

A very large brown seaweed (algae). It has dark brown leathery, strap-like branches (thallus).

It attaches to the substrate by a large disc or conical-shaped holdfast. Usually there is a single leathery frond (stalk) from the holdfast, which divides into long segments or fronds.

Its strong holdfast often pulls off pieces of granite during storms which can remain attached to the kelp when washed up on shore.

The caterpillar (larva) is initially pale yellow with fine hairs, before turning green. It has narrow yellow lines on its body which are sometimes hard to see. The upper side of the butterfly (adult) is white with a black tip on its forewing (front wing) and a black patch on the front edge of its hindwing. A male has one black spot on its forewing, while a female has two black spots. Looking from underneath, the forewing is white with two black spots and the hindwing is yellow.

Size

Caterpillar about 3.5 cm; Butterfly up to 5 cm wingspan.

Tree to 25 m high; bark grey-brown, thick, roughly tessellated (mosaic-like). Its smaller branches are striated (striped with parallel longitudinal ridges or lines).

Leaves

  • Often whorled (arranged as a ring of leaves), lance-shaped and sometimes broadest in the upper third
  • 4 – 10 cm long and 1 – 3.5 cm wide
  • Coloured differently on the two surfaces: upper surface dark green, dull to shiny; lower surface white and covered with dense intertwined hairs
  • Pointed or having a broad shallow notch at the tip
  • Adult leaves have entire margins while juveniles will have a few short teeth, flat or slightly curved backwards

Flowers

Flowers mainly January - June. Pale yellow cylindrical spikes forming a bottle-brush shape. Each flower head is 6 – 12 cm long, 5 – 8 cm wide and attracts insects and nectar-eating birds.

Its genus name Leptospermum is from Greek leptos (thin) and sperma (seed), referring to its small seeds; and its species name laevigatum is from Latin laevigatus (smooth), probably referring to the appearance of the plant.

Also known as Australian Myrtle and Victorian Tea Tree.

A tall, bushy shrub or small tree, with bark that sheds in strips. Grows up to 6 m tall.

Leaves

Grey-green and obovate (egg-shaped and flat, with the narrow end attached to the stalk). They are 1.5 – 3 cm long and 5 – 8 mm wide.

Flowers

White and usually in groups of two. The flower heads are usually 1.5 – 2 cm in diameter, and made up of five petals that are 5 – 8 mm long, with many stamens protruding from the centre that are 2 mm long.

The adult male is black with a deep-orange to yellow beak, a narrow orange to yellow ring around its eye, and dark legs. The female is grey-brown, with some streaks or mottling, and its back is darker than its belly. The female also has a paler chin than the male, a dull yellow-brown beak, dark legs, and the ring around her eye is less bright. Young birds are also brown but with lighter underparts and a dark grey or black beak.

Size

25 to 28 cm (from head to tail)

The caterpillar (larva) is initially a pale yellow-grey, before turning green with long black hairs along its body. Its head is brown-black with short hairs. The female butterfly (adult) is orange with creamy yellow and dark brown patches towards the tip of its forewings (front wings). The male is less colourful, being brown and orange with no pale patches. It also has an obvious raised vein in the middle of its forewing. Both males and females have a small eye-spot on each wing. The undersides of the wings in both the male and female are paler with faint markings, and their hindwings have very few markings. The female’s hindwing is darker then its forewing. It is difficult to identify these butterflies when they are resting with their wings closed. The males emerge quite a while earlier in the year before the females.

Size

Caterpillar about 3.5 cm long; Butterfly wingspan 5.5 – 7.5 cm (females are larger than males).

Ground-dwelling froglet with a slender body, slender limbs and slightly pointed head that is wider than long. The pupil is horizontal and the tympanum (eardrum) indistinct. Usually this frog is discernible by its distinctive ‘crick-crick’ call.

The Common Froglet has extremely variable markings, with great variety usually found within confined populations. The colour varies from dark brown, fawn, light and dark grey. The colour of the ventral surface is similar to the dorsal surface, but speckled with white spots. The dorsal surface may be smooth, warty or have longitudinal skin folds.

Black and white, with the pattern varying across its range. The back of its neck, upper tail and shoulders (on its wings) are white in males and grey in females, and (across most of Australia) the rest of its body is black. In south-eastern, central and south-western Australia, including Tasmania, its back and rump are entirely white. Its eye is red-brown. Young birds are usually grey rather than black and have dark eyes.

Distinctive feature

One toe faces backwards and three face forwards. It has a square-tipped tail.

A type of sea squirt, an animal that forms large colonies as a dense mat over rocks which are highly visible at low tide.

Its shape is squat and globular. It has a thick leathery outer layer called a ‘tunic’ which is often covered with brown or green algae. Cylindrical in shape with 2 openings called siphons for inhaling and exhaling water and feeding.

This frog goes by several common names: Eastern Banjo Frog, Eastern Pobblebonk Frog and Southern Bullfrog. The first two are based on its distinctive 'bonk' call which sounds similar to the string of a banjo being plucked.

Its back ranges from grey, to olive-green, dark brown or black, with dark marbling or flecks. It has a pale yellow stripe running from under its eye to its arm, a dark band above this, and may also have a pale stripe running down its back. Its sides commonly have a purple or bronze sheen, mottled with black. Its belly is white and sometimes mottled with grey. Its back is warty and rough but its belly is smooth.

Distinctive feature

A prominent gland on the outer side of its hind leg (its shin) and a fleshy lump at the base of each hind foot.

The top of the adult male's head is grey-black, extending in a line down either side of its white breast. Its throat is also white, with a rufous patch in the centre. Its wings and lower back are dark metallic grey and its upper back and underneath are buff. In flight, its white outer tail feathers are visible. The female has similar but duller colouring. A young bird has less distinct markings with dark olive on top of its head, a white chin and throat and a cinnamon chest and belly.

Distinctive feature

It has a very long, fine beak that curves downward.

It has a grey back and head, and bright-yellow underparts. Southern birds have an olive-yellow rump, while birds in northern Australia have a brighter yellow rump. Its throat is off-white and when seen in flight, it has a pale bar on its wings. Its bill is black. Young birds are rufous-brown with paler streaks.

Size

13 – 17 cm long, the males are slightly larger

Elephant snails are a type of semi-rare solitary marine snail (mollusc) and look like a black slug with a small white, shield-like shell on their backs.

Size

70 - 150 mm

Bright yellow and black bands across its abdomen, with a pair of black spots and a black triangle on each yellow band. It has yellow legs, black antennae and two pairs of transparent wings. Nests are commonly built underground with only their small entrance holes visible, which are about 2 - 3 cm across.

Size

1.2 – 1.5 cm long (worker); 2 cm long (queen)

A beetle with a shiny black back and head with bright yellow-green markings, and dark brown to black legs.

Distinctive feature

Violin-shaped markings on its back (after which it is named).

Size

About 2 cm

Grey-brown to bronze, with a dark stripe running along each side of its body from its nostril, across its eye to its tail, getting wider from its front legs. Its body pales below the stripe to a cream belly.

This species has a lighter body with a less obvious stripe running along its sides than the Southern Garden Skink.

Size

8 - 10 cm (nose to end of tail).

Grey-brown to bronze, with a dark stripe running along each side of its body from its nostril, across its eye to its tail, getting wider from its front legs. Its body pales below the stripe to a cream belly.

This species has a ‘heavier’ looking body and a more obvious stripe running along its sides, compared to the Northern Garden Skink.

Size

8 - 10 cm (nose to end of tail).

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