Subterranean Fauna

Subterranean fauna have been recorded from Western Australia since the 1940s. True subterranean fauna may be divided into broad main categories:

• Stygofauna: groundwater-dwelling, aquatic fauna; and
• Troglofauna: cave or karst-dwelling, terrestrial fauna occurring above the watertable.

Stygofauna are those fauna that inhabit groundwater, sometimes occurring very close to the surface. They tend to be highly specialised to, and obligate dwellers of, subterranean groundwater habitats ('stygobites'). The types of animals that have become stygal in Western Australia include platyhelminthes, oligochaetes, crustaceans, water mites and water beetles. A subterranean fish and an a stygal eel occur in the groundwater below Cape Range.

In Western Australia, Troglofauna have historically only been known from cave systems and massive karst such as Cape Range and Barrow Island. Recent work in pisolite mesas in the Pilbara region has, however, confirmed that troglobitic communities may occur in other fractured and cavernous geology types. The types of fauna that have become troglobitic include spiders, pseudoscorpions, beetles, schizomids, millipedes and centipedes.

As subterranean fauna can have very small distributions (true Short Range Endemics), development proposals can present significant risks to the conservation status of individual species.


Vertebrate Fauna Subterranean Fauna Short Range Endemics Statutory Framework Publications Links			Subterranean fauna have been recorded from Western Australia since the 1940s. True subterranean fauna may be divided into broad main categories: • Stygofauna: groundwater-dwelling, aquatic fauna; and • Troglofauna: cave or karst-dwelling, terrestrial fauna occurring above the watertable. Stygofauna are those fauna that inhabit groundwater, sometimes occurring very close to the surface. They tend to be highly specialised to, and obligate dwellers of, subterranean groundwater habitats ('stygobites'). The types of animals that have become stygal in Western Australia include platyhelminthes, oligochaetes, crustaceans, water mites and water beetles. A subterranean fish and an a stygal eel occur in the groundwater below Cape Range. In Western Australia, Troglofauna have historically only been known from cave systems and massive karst such as Cape Range and Barrow Island. Recent work in pisolite mesas in the Pilbara region has, however, confirmed that troglobitic communities may occur in other fractured and cavernous geology types. The types of fauna that have become troglobitic include spiders, pseudoscorpions, beetles, schizomids, millipedes and centipedes. As subterranean fauna can have very small distributions (true Short Range Endemics), development proposals can present significant risks to the conservation status of individual species.