Australia has a great diversity of sphaeromatid isopods, both in terms of species and genera, with 187 recorded speciesand subspecies in 58 genera. This contribution records and describes a further four genera: Austrasphaera gen. nov.,Cassidias Richardson, 1906, Koremosphaera gen. nov. and Pedinura gen. nov. and ten new species: Austrasphaeraberentsae sp. nov., A. springthorpei sp. nov., Cassidias australiensis sp. nov., Exosphaeroma agmokara sp. nov.,Exosphaeroma alveola sp. nov., Koremosphaera colonus sp. nov., Margueritta sandyi sp. nov., Moruloidea perionasussp. nov., Pedinura flindersia sp. nov. and Pedinura mokari sp. nov. Several appear to be common and widely distributed,with both species of Austrasphaera and Pedinura flindersia ranging from Vic. to WA; Pedinura mokari is recorded fromVic. and SA while Cassidias australiensis is recorded from the NT to the North-West Shelf, WA. The remaining speciesare restricted to or near to their type locations. A brief diagnosis is given for Exosphaeroma and an annotated list of allaccepted species is provided, including incertae sedis species and some recent exclusions from this genus. |
