Oyster reefs have declined globally by 85%, making them one of the most threatened marine habitats worldwide. Restoring these ecosystems to re-establish the services they once provided, such as habitat for fish and marine invertebrates, water filtration and the protection of shorelines, is paramount to the health of coastal and estuarine systems. Most oyster reef research and restoration has occurred in temperate regions; however, oyster reefs are also known to occur throughout the tropics. Molecular research has revealed an unexpectedly high diversity of morphologically similar tropical oyster species, however, many of these species are not yet named and almost nothing is known about them which hinders their potential restoration.
Natural oyster reefs have recently been found in the Queensland tropics. The identities of these reef-building oysters are also unknown, but they are unlikely to be Sydney rock oysters (Saccostrea glomerata) which typically occurs further south along the eastern coast of Australia. We developed species-specific primers to enable the rapid identification of tropical oysters in Queensland and describe the occurrence of several new reef-building species using these methods. We also assessed the biological communities associated with these tropical oyster reefs to create a biological reference system for future restoration.