Table 3 Taxa of conservation, biodiversity and biosecurity importance.
Common Name | Scientific Name | Importance | Site/s detected | Assay | Associated environment | Biogeographic region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indonesian shortfin eel | Anguilla bicolor bicolor | A single juvenile was previously obtained in Daniel Roux Cave, with larger adults reported by the public in the Dales36. Our detection at Dolly Cave Spring in the south-east of CI indicates that this elusive species is more widely distributed across the island | Dolly Cave Spring (20) | 16S Fish (short) | Marine, brackish, freshwater | Indo-West Pacific |
Gudgeon | Eleotris | Eleotris fusca has previously been reported in Daniel Roux Cave, Whip Cave, Runaway Cave and Freshwater Cave; these populations exhibit cave adaptations such as a pale body colour, in addition to enlarged pectoral and caudal fins36,44. Also occur in caves on many Indo-Pacific Islands25 | Freshwater Cave (5), Waterfall Spring (9), Freshwater Spring (10), Ryan’s Ripper Rift (16), Hosnies Spring (17) | 16S Fish (short) | Freshwater | Circumglobal |
Carps, minnows and relatives | Cyprinidae | There were a number of hits for Cyprinidae, however they could not be resolved beyond a family level, exempting the genus Gobio. Nonetheless the detection of Cyprinidae is a new occurrence record for CI; this family is not native to Australia and may represent an introduction such as Cyprinus carpio in the Murray-Darling River system of eastern Australia. Alternatively, it could represent an unreferenced species in southeast Asia, given the proximity of CI to Indonesia | Hosnies Spring (17), Ross Hill Gardens (18), Dolly Cave Spring (20), Lost Lake Cave (21,22), WiFi Cave (23) | 16S Fish (short) | Freshwater | Circumglobal |
Freshwater jellyfish | Craspedacusta sowerbii | Putative new occurrence record for CI; this freshwater jellyfish is typically found in calm freshwater lakes and reservoirs around the world | Waterfall Spring (9), Dolly Cave Spring (20) | 16S Fish (short), 16S Crustacean | Freshwater | Circumglobal |
Prawn | Litopenaeus | Litopenaeus vannamei was detected in this study, however we cannot verify this new occurrence record to a species level, as not all Litopenaeus have been barcoded for 18S. Nonetheless, the detection of this genus at CI expands upon previous surveys which give reference to unidentified species of the encompassing family Penaeidae46 | Whip Cave (3), Lost Lake Cave (21), WiFi Cave (23) | 18S Universal | Marine, brackish | Circumglobal |
Shrimp | Atyidae | A member of this family, Antecaridina lauensis, has previously been identified in Whip Cave, 19th Hole and Runaway Cave26,36,55,56. The distribution of this coastal anchialine shrimp may extend to Ryan’s Ripper Rift | Ryan’s Ripper Rift (16) | 18S Universal | Freshwater, brackish | Circumglobal |
Millipedes | Lophoproctidae | Two species of this family, Lophoturus speophilus and L. humphreysi, have previously been identified in Jedda Cave and Jane-up Cave, and 19th Hole, respectively57. The Lophoproctidae millipedes are commonly found in low light environments such as cave habitats58 | Jedda Cave (11) | 18S Universal | Terrestrial | Circumglobal |
Harpacticoid copepod | Nitokra | Nitokra sp. has previously been identified in Whip Cave and Hendersons Spring44,56. The distribution of this copepod now extends to Waterfall Spring. Two species of Nitokra have been previously reported in Western Australia; one in the anchialine groundwaters of the Cape Range karst area59 and the other in calcrete aquifers broadly across arid WA60 | Waterfall Spring (9) | 18S Universal | Freshwater, brackish | Circumglobal |
Slender springtails (collembola) | Willowsia | Willowsia nigromaculata was detected in this study, however we cannot verify this new occurrence record to a species level, as not all Willowsia have been barcoded for 16S. Nonetheless, this genus is a putative new occurrence record for CI; Willowsia sp. have previously been recorded in caves on mainland Western Australia45. Unidentified species from the encompassing subclass Collembola have previously been identified in Runaway Cave, Jane-up Cave, The Grotto, Grants Well, 19th Hole and Whip Cave44 | Jane-up Cave (12), Grants Well (14), Thundercliff Cave (15), Ryan’s Ripper Rift (16), Hosnies Spring (17) | 16S Crustacean | Terrestrial | Circumglobal |
