CRUSTACEA (Crustaceans)
The Section of Crustacea is responsible for the development and curation of the state's Crustacean Collection held within the WA Museum. Loans of parts of the collections are made available to national & international scientists conducting research on crustacean groups. Information derived from the collection and generated from research is used in the development of displays, education and other public programs.
The Section of Crustacea is also responsible for the curation of the WA Museum Worm Collection. While parts of the worm collection are loaned to external scientists for research, there is no current research being conducted by staff of this section.
Crustacean Collection
The Crustacean collection of the WA Museum comprises marine, freshwater and terrestrial animals, totalling over 103,000 specimen lots. Databasing of this vast collection is in progress and currently one third of the collection has been completed. Specimens have been "wet" preserved, stored in 75% ethanol and are housed in temperature and humidity controlled areas. There is a small collection of "dry" preserved crustaceans.
Staff Members
Diana Jones
Curator (Crustacea)
Diana Jones has over 20 years experience with the museum and working with Western Australian crustaceans. Her research on barnacles and fiddler crabs has gained her international recognition.
Melissa Titelius
Technical Officer (Crustacea)
Melissa has been working with the museum since 1993 and manages the crustacean collection. She has assisted in the collection and study of the WA crustacean fauna and has participated in numerous marine surveys in WA.
What is a crustacean?
Crustaceans are a subphylum of the phylum Arthropoda and share with other arthropods (horseshoe crabs, spiders, scorpions mites, ticks, centipedes, millipedes and other less known groups) the characteristic of a hardened outer skeleton (known as a cuticle) and jointed legs. What makes crustaceans different from other arthropods is the presence of two pairs of antennae at some time during their life cycle.
As a group crustaceans show the greatest range in morphology (body form) known to exist in any group of animals or plants alive today. They can be found in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats and some of the most extreme environments such as the hydrothermal vents in the depths of the ocean.
There are some 50,000 known crustacean species and current studies estimate there are at least four times this number of species yet to be discovered. Well-known crustaceans included the prawns, crayfish and crabs but there are many more less familiar groups such as the sand fleas (amphipods), copepods and prawn killers (stomatopods).
Class: Branchiopoda
Branchiopods (meaning ‘gill feet’) are small crustaceans inhabiting many of the freshwater and saline inland water bodies of Australia. They are well adapted to temporary water bodies, as most species have eggs resistant to drying. The eggs hatch very quickly and population explosions can occur within a few days after rain. There are three distinct orders within the class: The Anostraca (fairy shrimps), Notostraca (shield shrimps), and the Diplostraca (clam shrimps and water fleas)
Class: Remipedia
Remipedia are an unusual group having both primitive and advanced characteristics. The few known species are found in the groundwater of caves that have connections to the sea and are affected by marine tides. The discovery of members of this class in Australia has only occurred recently, where they are only known from a single cave on the Cape Range Peninsular, Western Australia.
Class: Cephalocarida
These tiny (2-4 mm long) crustaceans are considered to be very primitive and live on the sea bed where they feed on detritus (debris). There are only nine known in the world.
Class: Maxillopoda
The Maxillopoda include a number of very distinct groups of crustaceans. While their difference in appearances is considerable, they share certain characteristics in their development and segmentation. Included in this class are the Cirripedia (barnacles), Copepoda (copepods) and the parasitic Branchiura (fish lice).
Class: Ostracoda
The Ostracoda is a large class of relatively poorly known crustaceans. They are sometimes called ‘mussel shrimp’ because they have a bivalved carapace.
Class: Malacostraca
The Malacostraca include the majority of well-known crustaceans, especially the edible species found in the order Decapoda.
