Queensland's Citizen Science Hub

Salticidae Opisthoncus sexmaculatus Cooloola Bio Blitz 25 Aug 2108 Seary’s Creek RJMW-055 close to sexmaculatus but somewhat different…

The Rainbow Beach based BioBlitz lured 15 experienced scientists and about 80 keen volunteers to scan the sky and treetops, shake branches and grasses over 24-26 August 2018 then again on 17-19 May 2019 to search for unknown species of plants, animals, birds and fish. But the issue that has grabbed national and international media attention has been the discovery of a variety of miniscule invertebrates from moths to spiders.

Access the summary report

Update June 2019

Subsequent processing of the records from the BioBlitz reveal 25 new, undescribed species with a likely additional 11 awaiting confirmation.

Two of these were already found in Cooloola on the previous BioBlitz making 34 new species for this survey, totalling 71 new species in the past two surveys.

A surprisingly small overlap with August 2018 meant the running total is extraordinarily high for a survey of this type. This due to the special habitats surveyed on this occasion (bymien, old growth rainforest; and fens, stable mature freshwater wetland).
Contributing member group
The Royal Society of Queensland