Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: crustaceans

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 7 years ago

ABSTRACT – Using biological collections and relevant literature, an extensive data compilation of the marine crustaceans known from the Kimberley Project Area waters has been assembled. This will contribute to the ecological and environmental understanding of the region. Crustacean records held by Australian museums were surveyed for specimens collected in depths of <30 m from the Kimberley coast and adjacent offshore atolls of Western Australia. A total of 5,399 specimen lots were collated, but 28% of records were excluded owing to incomplete identification, leaving 882 species in the final dataset. Decapods represent 85.5% of all crustacean species presently known from the Kimberley Project Area. Most species (64.6%) were wide ranging Indo-West Pacific, with few Australian endemics (13.3%). However, endemism rates were higher in the inshore (17.3%) than in offshore waters (4.7%). Knowledge gaps regarding the crustacean diversity of the region are discussed and shown to be mainly due to collecting bias and variation in effort.