Preiss was one of a number of influential German-speaking residents — such as Ludwig Becker, Hermann Beckler, William Blandowski, Amalie Dietrich, Wilhelm Haacke, Diedrich Henne, Gerard Krefft, Johann Luehmann, Johann Menge, Carl Mücke (a.k.a.
[2] He arrived at the Swan River Colony on board the Britmart on 4 December 1838, remaining there until January 1842; during this time he became a British subject.
The molluscs were described by Karl Theodor Menke and published in Hanover in 1843 titled Molluscorum Novae Hollandiae Specimen.
[6] The first specimen of the Western Swamp Tortoise was collected by Preiss in 1839 and sent to the Vienna Museum where it was labelled New Holland, but was not named Pseudemydura umbrina until 1901 by Seibenrock.
Preiss is commemorated in the names of about 100 species of flora in Western Australia, including plants in the genera Acacia, Allocasuarina, Eucalyptus, Grevillea, Hakea, Kunzea, Melaleuca, Santalum, Xanthorrhoea and Callitris.