Nine New Species of Ilyarachninae Hansen, 1916 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Munnopsidae) from Australia and New Zealand with an Updated Key of the Subfamily from the Southwest Pacific

Abstract

The Ilyarachninae are a diverse and widely distributed subfamily of the asellote family Munnopsidae. This paper describes nine new deep-sea species from two Ilyarachninae genera, Ilyarachna and Notoapais, from the southwestern Pacific, namely from New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. Ilyarachna aculeatus n. sp., Ilyarachna brucei n. sp., Ilyarachna franki n. sp., Ilyarachna mclayi n. sp., Ilyarachna pacifica n. sp., Ilyarachna sami n. sp., Ilyarachna taranui n. sp. and Notopais chathamensis n. sp. are described from New Zealand waters, while Notopais likros n. sp. is described from off the east coast of Australia. Additionally, a redescription of Notopais spinosa from the Balleny Islands, Antarctica, and a revised key to the Ilyarachna and Notopais species from the southwest Pacific are included, and the distribution, affinities, and diagnostic characters of the new species are discussed.

Keywords

• Antarctica
• Australia
• deep-sea
• Isopoda
• Munnopsidae
• New Zealand