Some Aspects of the Zoogeography of Northwestern Australian Echinoderms (Other Than Holothurians)
The long coastline of northwestern Australia, with a high diversity of habitats, and the broad continental shelf, provide abundant living space for a rich echinoderm fauna which is still incompletely known but there are now sufficient data to enable statements to be made, with some
degree of confidence, about its composition and relationships.
The shelf edge atolls, offshore islands, and to a lesser extent the barrier reef which runs southwards from North West Cape, have an echinoderm fauna principally of widespread Indo-West Pacific species, characteristic of coral reefs in clear water. The coastal and shelf fauna on the other hand has a large component of endemic species. Its greatest affinity lies with the Indo-Malayan area, particularly Indonesia and the Philippines.
Forty-five species of echinoderms are here recorded from Western Australia for the first time.
The shelf edge atolls, offshore islands, and to a lesser extent the barrier reef which runs southwards from North West Cape, have an echinoderm fauna principally of widespread Indo-West Pacific species, characteristic of coral reefs in clear water. The coastal and shelf fauna on the other hand has a large component of endemic species. Its greatest affinity lies with the Indo-Malayan area, particularly Indonesia and the Philippines.
Forty-five species of echinoderms are here recorded from Western Australia for the first time.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 July 1983
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