Crustacea (excluding Cirripedia) of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia

Abstract

Three hundred and eighty-one crustacean taxa have been identified from collections made during the Woodside Dampier Archipelago diving and dredging expeditions between 1998 and 1999, bringing the total known from the area to 426. Most species (361) belong to the Decapoda. A total of 120 species are new records for the archipelago, 14 are new records for Western Australia, five are new records for Australia and three are new species. Species diversity was greatest in the intertidal and shallow subtidal waters around the islands, where there was generally a high diversity of potential hosts for crustacean symbionts. These areas were characterised by a dominance of xanthoid crabs. Diversity was lowest in the deeper inter-island waters typified by soft and rocky bottoms with few potential hosts. The anomuran Porcellanidae and the brachyuran Portunidae were dominant at these sites. The collection has a high occurrence of {Indo-West} Pacific species typical of the Northern Australian faunistic province.