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These animals belong to the phylum Arthropoda (which includes crustaceans, insects and spiders). Crustaceans include lobsters, crayfish, prawns,crabs, prawns, seed shrimps, amphipods, isopods, ostracods, barnacles, slaters, pill bugs. These animals are among the most widespread and diverse group of invertebrates, and the larger malacostracan crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, prawns) are economically valuable. Although originally aquatic, many crustaceans, such as slaters and beachhoppers, are adapted to life on land.
Characteristics of crustaceans
- body segmented with a hardened shellLimbs
- Limbs generally with two branches
- Two pairs of antennae
- Body with 7 or more pairs of sometimes very different appendages for feeding, locomotion and sex
- Respiration by gills
Research
The research programs are mainly concerned with the systematics, phylogeny, biology and zoogeography of crustaceans of Australia, the Indo-Pacific region and the Southern Ocean.
Projects
Collections
The Australian Museum has a long tradition of studying crustaceans and this is reflected in the extensive collections. The collection includes about 60,000 lots of Crustacea from Australia and the Indo-Pacific and more than 4,700 type lots.
The Marine Invertebrate collections are fully computerised collections of about 1.5 million registered specimens, microscope slides, SEM stubs and photographic images of marine invertebrates and all other invertebrates except molluscs, insects and spiders. The collections date from 1880 and are still growing through research and targeted collecting. The collections are predominantly from New South Wales, Australia and the Indo-Pacific. In addition to the registered collections there are also unsorted and unidentified collections, sorted to various taxonomic levels, that can be made available for research.
The type collection comprises more than 9000 type lots, including more than 2000 primary types.
The current emphasis in the collections is on peracarid crustaceans and polychaetes worms, which reflects the research interests of the Marine Invertebrate section. We also have extensive decapod, echinoderm, ascidian, pycnogonid and sponge collections. We will consider the deposition of any invertebrate voucher specimens into the Australian Museum collections for future research based access.
The Marine Invertebrate Section houses Australian Museum Research Library books on many invertebrate groups and, along with reprints, is one of the largest collections of its kind in Australia. It is available for use by scientists, students and the public by appointment. The reprint collection is currently being computerised on a bibliographic database.
Loans of collection material or access to collection data or library books held in these areas should be arranged through Stephen Keable, Collection Manager.
Australian Museum holds extensive collections of invertebrates but does not carry out specialised research in all areas.
Staff
Jim Lowry (Principal Research Scientist)
George (Buz) Wilson (Principal Research Scientist)
Stephen Keable (Collection Manager)
Helen Stoddart (Scientific Officer)
Roger Springthorpe (Technical Officer)
Links
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