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French Polynesian Decapoda, restricted to shrimps, and Stomatopuda are inventoried from literature and unpublished fields collections. Number of species is 205 for the shrimps and 26 for the Stomatopoda. Within the shrimps, Caridea dominate with 170 species, mainly Alpheidae (57 species), Palaemonidae (46 species), and Pandalidae (29 species). Full literature and distribution in French Polynesia are indicated for each species. When available a brief indication is also given on the biotop. New records include 23 species of the genera Aristaeomorpha, Funchalia, Metapenaeopsis, Petagopenaeus, Sicyonia, Nematocarcinus, Janicella, Stylodactylus, Anchistus, Harpiliopsis, Jocaste, Paranchistus, Periclimenes, Philarius,Vir and Thor, for the shrimps, and Alima, Busquilla, and Gonodactylus, for the Stomatopoda.

In late 1997, Tokelau requested assistance from the Secretariat for the Pacific Community (SPC) to conduct a stock assessment of marine resources in Fakaofo as a first step towards producing a management plan for the lagoon. SPC recruited a consultant to conduct the survey in conjunction with local staff early in 1998. However, the shipping service to Tokelau was having problems during this time, and was in NZ for maintenance. The timing of subsequent sailings clashed with other work commitments by the consultant, and the survey was not carried out until July/August 1998. The terms of reference for the work are contained in Appendix 1.