2561 individual polychaetes were collected from 266 sediment samples in the Oceanic Shoals Australian Marine Park between 2009 and 2012. This species-level inventory, published by Przeslawski, Glasby, and Nichol in 2019, identified 368 species and 43 families, including new records for Australia. The data provides baseline ecological information for marine management by comparing species assemblages, functional groups, and their relationships with environmental factors.
Use Cases
- Compare polychaete species assemblages across different survey periods based on the multi-year collection.
- Model relationships between polychaete community structure and environmental variables or geomorphology.
- Assess the impact of taxonomic resolution on ecological patterns by analyzing data at species versus family levels.
- Analyze the distribution of polychaete functional groups, such as feeding or mobility types, across different seabed features like plains and banks.
Strengths
- Inventory includes 2561 individual specimens from 266 samples, providing a substantial count for analysis.
- Covers 368 species and 43 families, including new species and genera, indicating taxonomic depth.
- Data collection spans four marine surveys from 2009 to 2012, offering temporal coverage.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN)
- Collection Method
- Sediment samples were elutriated (500 μm) to separate macrofauna from four marine surveys.
- Time Range
- 2009 to 2012
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-23 02:42:51.045447; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Oceanic Shoals Australian Marine Park, northern Australia