Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: echinoderms

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 7 years ago

ABSTRACT – Australian state museums contain extensive species data and can provide baseline biodiversity information for many areas. We collated the specimen records from the Kimberley region of Australia and found 382 shallow water (<30 m) echinoderm species, comparable to available estimates of species richness from adjacent regions such as the Pilbara, ‘Coral Triangle’ or Great Barrier Reef. We identify and discuss taxonomic and collecting gaps, cross shelf patterns in species richness and composition, biogeography, and suggest some areas for future research on echinoderms in the region. At most locations, echinoderms have been incompletely sampled and many taxonomic gaps are apparent. Sampling to date has focused on hard substrates, yet there are extensive soft sediment areas in the region. More collections have occurred at inshore reefs and islands, which are more numerous, than at offshore atolls. Cumulative species richness is higher inshore than offshore, but at most inshore locations species richness is lower than offshore. However, this is biased by more collections having occurred intertidally inshore compared to subtidally offshore and much remains to be discovered about the inshore subtidal echinoderm fauna. Five times more endemic species are recorded inshore than offshore, with conservation implications. Further work is needed to identify specimens in existing collections.