Morphological and molecular characterisation of a new genus and new species of Parabathynellidae (Crustacea: Syncarida) in Queensland, Australia

Abstract

A new genus and species in the family Parabathynellidae Noodt, 1965, Lockyerenella danschmidti, gen. et sp. nov., is described from Queensland, Australia. The species displays several distinctive character states within the Parabathynellidae, and a unique combination of character states. Interestingly, L. danschmidti is the only known species of Parabathynellidae in Australia (and in the world) to possess a long and robust seta on the last segment of the antenna, which is present in both males and females. The new genus is morphologically distinct from the known genera, but is more similar to Queensland species of Notobathynella Schminke, 1973 and Arkaroolabathynella Abrams & King, 2013 from South Australia, than to species from other areas of the continent. This is the first work to couple genetics to the morphological description of a stygofauna species in Queensland. Phylogenetic relationships between L. danschmidti and related genera from elsewhere on the continent were evaluated through the analysis of combined mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. This analysis revealed at least one new genus within the Parabathynellidae, confirming our morphological hypothesis.