Australian Institute of Marine Science

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Ningaloo Reef expedition

The second Australian CReefs trip, this time to Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, was run from 4 to 25 June 2008.

It is the second in a series of three, 21 day expeditions at each location. The first was held in April this year to Lizard Island.

Each expedition involves around 25 people including researchers, photographers, support staff and BHP-Billiton employees.

The purpose of the expeditions is to use a diverse range of sampling methods in a wide range of habitats to sample species associated with coral reefs that have not previously been well sampled.

These organisms will be identified to operational taxonomic units (OTU) in the field and to species where possible. Follow up analyses will include the description and naming of new species.

The Ningaloo expedition, as well as those to Lizard and Heron Islands, will also provide the opportunity to re-collect species currently in museum collections but for which tissue samples for genetic analysis are not available.

List of participants

Molluscs	Clay Bryce (Western Australian Museum)
Molluscs	Corey Whisson (Western Australian Museum)
Algae	Fred Gurgel (University of Adelaide)
Algae/seagrasses	Rainbo Dixon (Murdoch University
Polychaetes	Gavin Dally (Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory)
Isopods	Niel Bruce (Museum of Tropical Queensland)
Tanaid shrimp	Magdalena Blazewicz (Museum Victoria)
Amphipods	Lauren Hughes (Australian Museum)
Isopods	Christine Hass
Echinoderms	Ashely Miskelly
Bryozoa	Kevin Tilbrook (British Museum of Natural History)
General Molecular	Laetitia Plaisance (Smithsonian Institution)

Support:
Coxswain	Steven Gregg (Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory
Coxswain	Paul (Condo) Costello
Project Leader	Julian Caley (Project Leader, Australian Institute of Marine Science)
Project Manager	Shawn Smith (Project Manager, Australian Institute of Marine Science)

Journalist	Susan Graham
Data Technician	Gavin Erricson (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
Photographer	Gary Cranitch (Queensland Museum)
	Cleve Etherington (BHP)
	Esme Wink (BHP)

Lizard Island expedition

The expedition to Lizard Island was undertaken from 2 to 22 April 2008. Around 25 people took part, including researchers, photographers, support staff and a BHP-Billiton employee.

During this expedition, researchers used a diverse range of sampling methods in a wide range of habitats to sample species associated with coral reefs that have not previously been well sampled.

These organisms will be identified to operational taxonomic units (OTU) in the field and to species where possible. Follow up analyses will include the description and naming of new species and DNA barcoding.

The Lizard Island expedition also provided the opportunity to re-collect species currently in museum collections but for which tissue samples for genetic analysis are not available.

The expedition team stayed at the Lizard Island Research Station (LIRS), which is on the northern Great Barrier Reef, 270 km north of Cairns, Queensland. The Research Station is owned and operated by the Australian Museum and is supported by the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation and the Coral Reef and Marine Science Foundation.

Hendriks

image-claudia-reidy

List of participants
Soft corals and gorgonians	Katharina Fabricius (Australian Institute of Marine Science)
	Merrick Ekins (Queensland Museum)
	Trish Hendriks (Queensland Museum)
Echinoderms	Tim O'Hara (Museum Victoria)
Crustacea (tanaids)	Magda Blazewicz (Museum Victoria)
Bryozoa	Phil Bock
Polychaetes	Chris Glasby (Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory)
	Charlotte Watson (Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory)
Isopods	Niel Bruce (Queensland Museum)
Algae	Fred Gurgel (University of Adelaide and the South Australian Herbarium)
	John Huisman (WA Herbarium)
	Elizabeth Perkins (Adelaide University)
Jellyfish and commensals	Joanna Browne (Museum Victoria)
General molecular science	Laetitia Plaisance (CReefs Institution of Oceanography at the University of California; soon the Smithsonian Natural History Museum)
Support	Greg Coleman (Data Manager, AIMS) Christos Rallis (Cook) Julian Caley (Project Leader, AIMS) Shawn Smith (Project Manager, AIMS) Frank Farris (Visiting web expert) Nash Hancock (BHP) Gary Cranitch (Photographer, Queensland Museum) Claudia Reidy (Expedition Journalist)