The Taxonomy Of Australian Freshwater Amphipoda Crustacea

The aims of this thesis are the taxonomic description of new species, examination of the stygobiont amphipod fauna of Australia, the review of phylogenetic relationships among the Australian Crangonyctoidea, and generation of a key to all Australian freshwater amphipod species. A significant contribution has been made to knowledge of the freshwater amphipoda of Australia. Nine new genera are established and forty three new species described within the Crangonyctoidea and Melitidae. Previously, eighteen genera and forty species of those families had been described. Many of the new taxa are stygobionts and understanding of the diversity and abundance of these amphipods has contributed significantly to arguments in favour of groundwater conservation. Nevertheless, while the number of described species has more than doubled, it is clear many taxa among collections are unresolved.