Arid and semi-arid regions, where annual rainfall is less than 500mm/year and evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation, occupy approximately 47% of the global land surface and cover more than 70% of the Australian continent. Extensive river networks, most of which were established by the Palaeocene, occur in arid Australia, but none support permanently flowing water. Instead, these systems are characterised by temporary to permanent pools with highly variable hydroperiods. There are also innumerable lentic habitats, mostly also temporary other than those supported by groundwater discharging from local aquifers, or, in the case of mound springs, from the Great Artesian Basin. Past research has focused on aquatic systems within specific regions within the Australian arid zone.  In this study we used existing datasets to examine continental-scale patterns of diversity and distribution of the invertebrate fauna of arid zone aquatic habitats. We found that species richness varied greatly across the arid zone and was influenced by both local and regional factors. However, the invertebrate community composition of pools within the temporary river networks displayed some similarities, despite being separated by thousands of kilometers of arid land.  The greatest differences detected in community composition were between surface water and groundwater-fed habitats. Further research is now underway to better understand the connectivity between these aquatic habitats and the dispersal of invertebrate taxa between temporary and permanent waters across an environmentally harsh landscape.