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Contributions to the knowledge of the Leucosiidae (Crustacea: Brachyura) of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Galil, Bella Sarah Titelius, Melissa M. |
| Copyright Year | 2007 |
| Abstract | Leucosiids were collected from diving and dredging stations sampled during the biodiversity survey conducted between 1998 and 2002 in the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. The archipelago provides a complex range of habitats in its intertidal and subtidal environments, including a range of soft substrata habitats suitable to the burrowing behaviour of the Leucosiidae. The species reported herein were collected from 23 of these stations; five intertidal and 18 dredged subtidal sites. Ten leucosiid species belonging to five genera were represented in the collections; Leucosia moresbiensis Haswell, 1880; L. punctata Bell, 1855; Myra australis Haswell, 1880; Myrine kesslerii (Paulson, 1875); Seulocia laevimana (Miers, 1884); Urnalana e1ata (A. Milne Edwards, 1874); U. haematosticta (Adams and White, 1849); U. margaritata (A. Milne Edwards, 1874); U. thysanotus (George and Clark, 1976); U. whitei (Bell, 1855). The species are briefly described and notes on their color patterns and distributions are also provided. INTRODUCTION The leucosiids have been a source of systematic and nomenclatural confusion (Galil, 2001a,b; 2003a, b), and have been "... largely ignored by modern systematists" (Davie, 2002: 251), with but few works on the Australian fauna. The small pebble crabs are well-disguised their carapacial colours expertly camouflage them when they are not buried beneath the surface of the sand. Though easily overlooked, ten leucosiid species belonging to five genera were collected in the Dampier Archipelago. The Dampier Archipelago provides a complex range of habitats in both intertidal and subtidal environments (Wells and Walker, 2003), including a range of soft substrata habitats suitable to the burrowing behaviour of the Leucosiidae. The soft substrata of the archipelago seabed is mainly made up of mud and fine sand (Jones, 2004) but ranges from clay to gravel, with sandier conditions prominent off the seaward side of the outer islands (Hutchins et al., 2004). Generally, these bottom types are relatively bare but where underlying limestone pavement emerges a diverse biota is present (Hutchins et al., 2004). Silty conditions extend into the intertidal zones of the islands where sand flats have a high silt content. Regional fluvial processes, sedimentary deposit erosion and biological activity occuring throughout the archipelago have largely contributed to these diverse silty conditions (Pearce et al., 2003). MATERIALS AND METHODS Collections of leucosiids from the Dampier Archipelago, amassed during the 1998 and 1999 Woodside Dampier Archipelago expeditions, were the result of broad-scale collecting of crustaceans from a variety of intertidal and subtidal habitats. Specimens were collected by hand at intertidal sites and subtidal sites were investigated by SCUBA (expeditions DA1/98 and DA3/99; 70 stations total). Sampling from a variety of soft substrata, subtidal habitats was conducted using a rake or scoop-lipped box dredge with a 1.0 cm mesh (expedition DA2/99; 100 stations). Dredge samples were filtered through a series of sieves to remove sediments and to recover animals. Refer to Hutchins et al. (2004) and Hewitt (2004) for further collection methods and site descriptions. Leucosiids were collected from 57 of the 170 stations sampled during the survey (Hewitt, 2004). The species reported herein were collected from 23 of these stations; five intertidal and 18 dredged subtidal sites. Abbreviations used in the text are as follows: Arch. for Archipelago; C. for Cape; cl for carapace length, measured along the vertical median line of the carapace; colI. for collected by; 1. for Island, Is for Islands; juv. for juvenile; ovig. for ovigerous; Pen. for Peninsula; Pt for Point; stn for station. DOI: 10.18195/issn.0313-122x.73.2007.303-314 |
| Starting Page | 303 |
| Ending Page | 303 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.18195/issn.0313-122x.73.2007.303-314 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/16.%20Galil,%20Titelius.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/SuppWAMuseum_2007_73_303to314_GALILetal.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.18195/issn.0313-122x.73.2007.303-314 |
| Volume Number | 73 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
