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Yabby or Ghost Nipper Yabbies burrow in large numbers on sheltered intertidal and shallow, subtidal muddy sandflats. They are often collected by yabby pump, and commonly used as bait for fishing. Occur in eastern Australia.
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Golden Orb-Weaving Spiders The three species of Golden Orb-Weaving Spiders found in Queensland (in the genera Trichonephila and Nephila) are familiar denizens of urban environments throughout the state. The most commonly encountered species, Trichonephila plumipes, is abundant in backyards in eastern Queensland, including around Brisbane.
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Green Emperor The Green Emperor is a huge dragonfly with a green thorax and a thick abdomen that inhabits a range of standing waters and sometimes larger streams and rivers.
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Shield Shrimp Shield Shrimp are the most strange-looking and distinctive of all desert crustaceans, and occur over much of inland Australia. Populations of these peculiar creatures explode following rain, and they can be found teeming in temporary pools and water-filled clay pans.
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Brown Tiger Prawn The Brown Tiger Prawn is a large, banded prawn growing to 235 mm in length. It occurs on mud or sandy mud, and is found in northern Australia from Shark Bay, WA, to central NSW.
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Moreton Bay Bug The Moreton Bay Bug (also called Flathead Lobster or Shovel-nosed Lobster) is found over muddy-sand substrates in inshore waters to about 60 m depth. Northern Australia.
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Australian Duskhawker The Australian Duskhawker is a large, brown and green dragonfly with a spotted abdomen. It breeds in a range of standing waters but crepuscular adults can be found far from water resting close to the ground, often in long grass.
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Swamp Crayfish The Swamp Crayfish is one of the world's smallest crayfish, being fully grown at 25 mm. Originally recorded from Bulimba Creek, Mt Gravatt, but rarely found in the Brisbane city area since 1951.
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Blue-spotted Hawker The Blue-spotted Hawker is a large, brownish dragonfly with pale stripes and spots. It inhabits standing waters including lakes, dams and sluggish rivers.
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Mud & Coral 'Lobsters' These are typically clawed, burrow-dwelling animals that seem to be half-shrimp and half-lobster. They belong to the Infraorders Axiidea and Gebiidea, which include 12 families with over 100 species in Australian waters. These crustaceans occur in a wide variety of habitats, from the intertidal zone to the deep sea (2,500 metres or more).
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Australian Emperor The Australian Emperor is a large dragonfly with a greyish thorax and yellowish abdomen with black markings. It inhabits a wide range of standing waters and sluggish rivers.
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Tau Emerald The Tau Emerald is a medium-sized, dull metallic green and brown dragonfly with yellow markings. It inhabits a wide range of standing waters and sluggish rivers and streams.
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Common Freshwater & Terrestrial Crustaceans of Queensland Queensland has a diverse range of freshwater and terrestrial environments, from outback deserts to tropical rainforests. Although crustaceans are primarily a marine group, there are many species of freshwater crayfish and crabs. Desert specialists, such as the remarkable Shield Shrimp, have eggs that can survive many years in the parched desert clay before hatching in their thousands when the rains finally come.
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Pygmy Wisp The Pygmy Wisp is a tiny damselfly that inhabits ponds, swamps and fringes of dams and lakes with plentiful aquatic vegetation. Mature males are dark brown or black with greenish markings and a reddish tip to the abdomen. Young females are mostly red and become black and green as they age.
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Red-rumped Wisp The Red-rumped Wisp is a tiny damselfly that inhabits a variety of standing water habitats, including small, well-vegetated ponds, dams and swamps. It is very similar to the Pgymy Wisp but males have more of the tip of the abdomen reddish. However, only female Red-rumped Wisps are known from south-east Queensland.
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