Marine Biological Survey of the Southern Kimberley, Western Australia.

This report describes the results of the first of three expeditions planned to the Kimberley to document the marine flora and fauna of the area. The expedition took place in November 1994 with the assistance of a grant from the National Estates Grant Program.Twenty-two stations were examined. Detailed notes are presented on the station locations and habitat types present. At each station seagrasses, algae, fish, and some invertebrate groups were collected and notes were made on mangroves in the area.Three areas of particular significance were found: the intertidal seagrass beds in the area of Sunday and Tallon Islands, which are the largest known for the Kimberley region; an extensive intertidal system which surrounds Montgomery Island with an area greater than 400 square kilometres; and a hypersaline lagoon on Macleay Island. These areas are described and the reasons for their significance detailed.This report provides an extensive section outlining the coastal geomorphology of the southern Kimberley islands, emphasising the unique intertidal terraces which trap water at low tide and have allowed the development of the seagrass systems at Sunday and Tallon Islands.There have been no published records of the marine algae which occur in the Kimberley. This report provides details of 72 species collected during the expedition. Coralline algae are poorly known and species in this group are currently being worked on taxonomically. Two genera commonly found during the trip are provisionally considered to be undescribed and two species are new records for Western Australia. Eight species of seagrasses were recorded from a total of 15 stations; the number of known localities at which the most common species occurs has been trebled.Two hundred thirty-two species of molluscs, 173 crustaceans, 24 polychaetes,and 197 species of fish were recorded. Potentially new species were found in several groups. Detailed collections were made of additional groups such as echinoderms. The first collections from the Kimberley were obtained of groups such as isopods and nemerteans.The taxonomy of many of the groups collected is poorly known. Material was obtained for specialists in particular groups in Australia and overseas. The material has been sorted and sent to the specialists for examination and determination of species. This work is complex and time consuming, so it has not been possible to provide identifications for this report. However, the material is currently being worked up and will be presented in the scientific literature when it has been completed.