This book is a comprehensive guide to the identification of 800 species of decapod and stomatopod crustaceans from southern Australian marine waters. It is liberally illustrated with more than 1000 line drawings giving good views of many species as well as diagnostic illustrations. Details for each species include the authority, year of description, sometimes a common name, diagnosis, size, geographical distribution, and ecological and depth distribution. The chapter on the Stomatopoda is by Shane Ahyong.

Sections within each chapter are hierarchical, species within genera, within families (often with subfamilies as well). Identification is achieved through the use of dichotomous keys adapted from many originally published in the primary literature, or developed from scratch. Some keys are to all Australian taxa but most are to southern Australian taxa only.

The information in this book derives from over 200 years of collecting in southern Australian environments, from the intertidal to the deep sea, and publications in numerous journals in several languages. More than 800 of these papers and books are cited.