The decapod crustacean research is one of the key program in the Systematics and Ecology Laboratory led by P. K. L. Ng. The strength is primarily with freshwater and marine crabs.

There are currently one academic staff (P. K. L. Ng), three PhD, four MSc and an Honours students working on the taxonomy, ecology and evolution of various groups of crabs and prawns. Three MSc and nine Honours students in carcinology have graduated on the basis of work on crustaceans over the last 10 years. The staff and students go on collection trip frequently to broaden their area of research.

A collection trip in Taiwan: Bertrand Richer de Forges (forefront) (New Caledonia), with Peter Ng and S. H. Tan (grinning) (left) (Singapore), Shane Ahyong (extreme right) and Joe Lee (in blue) (Australia) and J. T. Lin (in white) (Taiwan).

The crustacean research is very active and involve ongoing collaborations with oversea museums and academic institutions. These are:

• Peter Davie (Queensland Museum),

• Danièle Guinot (Muséum Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris),

• Bertrand Richer de Forges (Oceanographic Institute, New Caledonia),

• Masatsune Takeda (National Science Museum, Tokyo),

• Yukio Nakasone and Shigemitsu Shokita (University of the Ryukyus),

• Yu Hsiang Ping, Chan Tin Yam and Ho Ping Ho (National Taiwan Ocean University),

• Wang Chia Hsiang (Taiwan Museum),

• Jeng Ming-Shiou (Academia Sinica, Taipei),

• Yang Si Liang (Beijing Natural History Museum),

• Dai Ai Yun (Academia Sinica, Beijing),

• Phaibul Naiyanetr (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok),

• Paul Clark (Natural History Museum, London),

• Peter Castro (California State Polytechnic University) and

• Ray Manning (Smithsonian Institution).

Major projects:

• Freshwater Crab Diversity
• Freshwater Prawns Diversity
• Marine Crabs Diversity

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