A new species of shrimp has been discovered in a roadside waterhole in Queensland's west.

Professor Brian Timms is working with the Australian Wetlands and Rivers Centre, at the University of New South Wales, and made the discovery near Boulia, south of Mount Isa.

Professor Timms is now working on describing them in a scientific paper yet to be published.

He says it is another indication of the tremendous season in the Channel Country, with floods and big rain prompting an explosion of all sorts of animal and plant life.

"Fairy shrimps are primitive crustaceans that live in temporary waters - they are only there for a few weeks," he said.

"They filter feed the algae, they lay resistant eggs which then sit in the bottom mud for years and years until the next rain comes.

"These things are only about two centimetres long and when I came home I had a good look [under a microscope] and yes - it's a new species."

Professor Timms says it is an indication of the boom and bust cycle.

"The fantastic rains that we've had this year have woken up some eggs from a long sleep," he said.

"In a normal year you'd get some rain of course and some fairy shrimps and some clam shrimps hatch out but when you get these really wet years, these La Nina years - all hell breaks loose you could say and all sorts of species are around.

"We're up to about 25 species I think on this trip."