BIODIVERSITY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF FRESHWATER CRUSTACEANS (DECAPODA: NATANTIA) FROM VANUATU, A COMPARISON WITH FIJI AND NEW CALEDONIA.

Abstract

This is the first comprehensive study of freshwater decapoda crustaceans from Vanuatu. Of the nineteen species collected during this study, eighteen appear to be new records for the archipelago. However none of these species is endemic to Vanuatu, nine having a Pacific distribution and ten an Indo-Pacific distribution. Half of the species recorded were widely distributed in Vanuatu, whereas the others were more restricted. A comparison is made with the freshwater decapoda fauna of the two neighbouring archipelagoes namely, those of Fiji and New Caledonia, which have already been thoroughly surveyed.

Keywords

• freshwater decapoda crustaceans
• Atyidae
• Palaemonidae
• Goneplacidae
• Grapsidae
• Fiji
• New Caledonia
• Vanuatu