the
last major treatment of Australian phreatoicidean genera were
Nicholl's 1943 and 1944 monographs which brought the total count of
species in the suborder to about 50
over
the past 8-10 years significant and comprehensive collections by
Wilson, Keable, Ponder, Humphrey's and others, are bringing to light
many undescribed species,
a
linear extrapolation of some speciose Australian genera (e.g.,
Crenoicus) is predicting that there are approximately 200
undescribed species
but
these efforts are also highlighting phreatoicid's vulnerability to
anthropogenic degradation of fresh waters, among these are:
loss to drastic reductions in groundwater levels,
contamination of these water by uranium and other mining activities, and
