The crustacean community at Adele Island and Montgomery Reef appeared to have a low diversity compared to other coral reef ecosystems in Australia. For example, there weren’t many large crustaceans, only three painted crayfish were seen over the whole field trip. This is probably due to the silty conditions present at the study sites. However, the tiny lesser known crustaceans, such as the Isopoda, Amphipoda, Copepoda, Tanaidacea, Cumacea, Ostracoda were collected from algae, coral rubble and sediments in high numbers. The Museum has perhaps a few dozen records of these groups from the Kimberley Region and this was the first time the museum has attempted to intensively collect these groups. There will undoubtedly be many species that are new to science and most will be new records for Western Australia.

Micro Crustaceans

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