Studies of the hyperbenthic plankton community in Davies Reef lagoon, central Great Barrier Reef

Created 24/06/2025

Updated 24/06/2025

Seasonal and diel variations in community structure and abundance of the hyperbenthic plankton community were investigated in the lagoon of Davies Reef between June 1980 and May 1981.Three replicate sets of diurnal and nocturnal plankton samples were collected from the lagoon floor and from surface, mid and deep strata using an epibenthic trap and plankton nets at depths between 8 and 11m . Mysids are a highly visible and characteristic taxa within zooplankton assemblages in coral reef lagoons, which have been under-represented in lagoon plankton samples, due to their ability to escape from traps. The use of an epibenthic trap designed specifically to make use of the mysids' escape response has enabled researchers to provide quantitative data on the seasonal, diel and small-scale spatial variations in the species composition and abundance of the resident epibenthic mysid community. While the focus of this study was on mysids, a range of other hyperbenthic plankton taxa were captured. These include gammarids, calanoids, ostracods, harpacticoids, cyclopoids, nematodes, caprellids and cumaceans.

Files and APIs

Additional Info

Field Value
Title Studies of the hyperbenthic plankton community in Davies Reef lagoon, central Great Barrier Reef
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/0ec99af6-97d0-4fec-b17a-0d672fed82c3
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
reception@aims.gov.au
Reference Period 20/11/2017
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    147.64587,
    -18.83564
  ],
  "type": "Point"
}
Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "Studies of the hyperbenthic plankton community in Davies Reef lagoon, central Great Barrier Reef". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/studies-of-the-hyperbenthic-plankton-community-in-davies-reef-lagoon-central-great-barrier-reef1