The Thalassinidea (Crustacea: Decapoda) of Australia
Abstract
The mud shrimps, ghost shrimps, sponge shrimps, marine yabbies and related animals occurring in Australia are described and illustrated.
The number of Australian species is increased from 22 to 40 species by the addition of 12 new species and of six species not previously recorded from Australia. The 40 species are placed in 10 genera within six of the seven families currently considered to form the tribe Thalassinidea. The fauna is dominted by species of Callianassa and Upogebia which contain 13 and 11 species respectively.
Of the 40 species only 24 are known from more than 3 localities. The fauna contains a large element of 28 species (of which 12 are new) known only from Australia. Of the remaining 12 species only six have a geographic range extending beyond Indonesia.
The distribution patterns of the species within Australia are similar to those of other families of decapods, the bulk of the species being northern or southern with a few being essentially eastern or western. The northern (tropical) fauna contains those few species with ranges extending beyond Australia.
The fauna is amongst the richest of any area so far studied, although many areas are so far poorly known.
