CReefs Australia - Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef

The CReefs Australia project is a collection of a variety of taxa from three locations: Ningaloo Reefs in Western Australia, and Heron and Lizard Islands off the coast of Queensland (separate metadata records are kept for each location) between 2008 and 2010. Sampling was conducted by scuba, snorkel and beach collection.In 2008, Lizard Island collections were carried out during 2-22 April.In 2009, Lizard Island collections were carried out 6-27 February.Variables in the dataset are: longitude and latitude, date, identifications (to genus species where possible), depth, coral reef zone, and other habitat indicators.Species collected come from the following taxonomic groups:Algae and seagrasses (phyla Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, Rhodophyta, Magnoliophyta and Cyanobacteria)Arthropoda - Amphipods (Order: Amphipoda), Isopods (Order: Isopoda), Tanaids (Order: Tanaidacea), (Order: Decapoda)CrustaceaBryozoans (Order Cheilostomata)Cnideria (Class: Anthozoa, Hydrozoa)Echinoderms (Phylum: Echinodermata)Mollusca (Class: Gastropoda, Scaphopoda, Neograstropoda, Polyplacophora)Polychates (Phylum: Annelida)SipunculaCollection was mainly by hand; some samples were obtained by traps, grabs, sediment pumps, hook and line, speargun.
To conduct a taxonomic survey of Ningaloo Reef as part of the CReefs Australia project to better refine understanding of the marine biodiversity on the coral reefs of the east and west coasts of Australia.
A subset of the data has been provided to the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, http://iobis.org/OBISWEB/DisplayMetaData.jsp?content=maps_and_metadata/1468.html).Identifications were made as follows:Algae and seagrasses, phyla Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, Rhodophyta, Magnoliophyta (Fred Gurgel, Rainbo Rita Mae Dixon, John Huisman)Arthropoda, Order Isopoda (Neil Bruce)Arthropoda, Order Tanaidacea (Magdalena Blazewicz-Paskowycz)Bryozoa, Order Cheilostomata (Phil Bock)Echinodermata (Ashley Miskelly)Polychaeta, Phylum Annelida (Chris Glasby, Charlotte Watson )

CReefs Australia项目是2008至2010年间，采集自三个地点的多类群生物样本数据集，这三个地点分别为西澳大利亚州的宁格鲁礁（Ningaloo Reef），以及昆士兰州沿岸的赫伦岛（Heron Island）与蜥蜴岛（Lizard Island）——每个地点均设有独立的元数据（metadata）记录。采样方式涵盖水肺潜水、浮潜与海滩采集。其中2008年蜥蜴岛的采样时段为4月2日至22日，2009年则为2月6日至27日。

该数据集包含的变量包括：经纬度、采集日期、物种鉴定信息（尽可能鉴定至属种水平）、水深、珊瑚礁区域及其他生境指示因子。

本次采集的物种隶属于以下分类类群：
1. 藻类与海草类（涵盖绿藻门Chlorophyta、褐藻门Ochrophyta、红藻门Rhodophyta、被子植物门Magnoliophyta以及蓝藻门Cyanobacteria）
2. 节肢动物门甲壳类：端足类（端足目Amphipoda）、等足类（等足目Isopoda）、涟足类（涟足目Tanaidacea）、十足类（十足目Decapoda）
3. 苔藓虫类（唇口目Cheilostomata）
4. 刺胞动物类（Cnideria，包含珊瑚纲Anthozoa、水螅纲Hydrozoa）
5. 棘皮动物门（Echinodermata）
6. 软体动物门（腹足纲Gastropoda、掘足纲Scaphopoda、新腹足目Neogastropoda、多板纲Polyplacophora）
7. 多毛类（Polychates，环节动物门Annelida）
8. 星虫动物门（Sipuncula）

样本采集主要以手工作业为主，部分样本通过陷阱、采泥器、沉积物泵、手钓及鱼枪获取。

本项目作为CReefs Australia项目的组成部分，旨在对宁格鲁礁开展分类学调查，以进一步深化对澳大利亚东西海岸珊瑚礁海域海洋生物多样性的认知。

该数据集的一个子集已提交至海洋生物地理信息系统（Ocean Biogeographic Information System, OBIS，http://iobis.org/OBISWEB/DisplayMetaData.jsp?content=maps_and_metadata/1468.html）。

各类群的物种鉴定工作分别由以下人员完成：
- 藻类与海草类（绿藻门、褐藻门、红藻门、被子植物门）：Fred Gurgel、Rainbo Rita Mae Dixon、John Huisman
- 等足目节肢动物：Neil Bruce
- 涟足目节肢动物：Magdalena Blazewicz-Paskowycz
- 唇口目苔藓虫：Phil Bock
- 棘皮动物门：Ashley Miskelly
- 多毛类（环节动物门Annelida）：Chris Glasby、Charlotte Watson