The Farquhar Group belong to the
Outer Islands of the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
, lying in the southwest of the island nation, more than southwest of the capital,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, on
Mahé Island.
Area
The total land area of all islands in the group is less than , but the total area of the atolls measures about .
The group consists of two
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
s and one separate
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
. In addition, there are a couple of submerged
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...
s in the area:
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Farquhar Atoll (with two larger and about eight smaller islets)
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Providence Atoll (with 2 islets, Providence Island and Cerf Island)
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St. Pierre Island
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Wizard Reef
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Umzinto Bank (submerged)
#
Bulldog Bank (submerged)
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McLeod Bank (submerged)
Population
There is one settlement, located on Île du Nord (North Island) of
Farquhar Atoll. There is an abandoned village on Providence Island of
Providence Atoll.
There are records of
Maldivian mariner presence in the group from the 20th century, when a trading vessel from southern Maldives lost its course and reached Providence Atoll.
Biology
The
oonopid monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
spider species ''
Farqua quadrimaculata'' is the only known spider that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the Farquhar Islands.
[Saaristo 2001]
References
* (2001). Dwarf hunting spiders or Oonopidae (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Seychelles. ''Insect Syst. Evol.'' 32: 307–358.
Outer Islands (Seychelles)
Archipelagoes of Seychelles
{{Seychelles-geo-stub