Resolution of taxonomic identifications of polychaetes from the port baseline survey reference collections (B1.22)

Task leaders:
Dr Pat Hutchings, The Australian Museum
Dr Kerry Neil, Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries

Task associate: NA.

The introduction of invasive marine species cause fundamental, and typically deleterious, impacts on fisheries and eco-system resources, industrial development and infrastructure and human welfare. Over 250 exotic marine species have been identified in Australian waters and most are believed to have been unintentional introductions associated with shipping and mariculture activities. A significant proportion of the taxa introduced to Australia are polychaetes. During the last 2-3 years over 400 lots of polychaetes have been described from the ports of Abbott Point and Mourilyn Harbour and Weipa. These polychaetes were collected during baseline surveys for introduced marine species, undertaken by the CRC reef Research Centre's introduced marine pest group. While these taxa have been identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level, in some cases (n=88) taxa were not able to be identified to species level and have, instead been given species numbers. In these latter cases this is because no recent revisions have been undertaken of the families these taxa belong to and these samples almost certainly represent new species or new records for the region. Resolving the taxonomic identity of these previously unnamed taxa will further our knowledge of which taxa have been introduced and their present distribution and abundance. This knowledge is fundamental to controlling and managing the introduction and spread of introduced polychaetes.