FLINDERSIAN (Hedley 1904)

Hedley’s original term Adelaidean included “marine fauna which extends from Melbourne along the south coast of Australia”, which was later modified by Cotton (1930) to Flindersian. Defined in this way, the Adelaidean does not include the western portion of Tasmania. While the Peronian extends from Gippsland to Moreton Bay, it does not include Tasmania (the eastern part of which is in the Maugean sub-region). Hedley’s (1904) “Map to illustrate the barrier opposed by the Bassian Isthmus to migration of the marine fauna” resolves several of these problems. The map shows the Adelaidean to extend to the southern point of Tasmania (west of South Cape Bay) to the western part of the Great Australian Bight (Esperance). The marine region between Esperance and Geraldton was undefined by Hedley, but others have referred to this as the West Australian Province (Womersley 1981). The West Australian Province takes in Kott’s (1952) Baudinian Province, but neither term has been adopted (see Womersley 1981).

Iredale & May (1916) do not specify where on the geographically diverse east coast the Maugean area starts or ends, but more recent workers constrain it to the Victorian and Tasmanian coasts (Womersley 1981). However, a quantitative biogeographical analysis using macroalgal assemblages has shown support for the traditional Peronian, Flindersian and Maugean regions (Waters et al. 2010: fig. 1). We herein consider the Maugean to be a subregion of the Flindersian.