Two new species and new host and distribution records of Gnathia Leach, 1814 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Gnathiidae) from Western Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Abstract

Gnathia antennacrassasp. nov. from seagrass beds off Rottnest Island, Western Australia is the first record of any gnathiid from the entirety of Western Australia; the male can be distinguished from congeners by the stout peduncular articles of the antenna. Gnathia taurussp. nov. is described from two adult specimens reared from praniza larvae found infecting elasmobranch fishes at Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef; the males can be distinguished from all congeners by the dorsally strongly elongate mandibles and smoothly rounded mediofrontal process on the anterior part of cephalosome. Gnathia aff. maculosa Ota & Hirose, 2009 is recorded from Australia, together with further records of G. trimaculata Coetzee, Smit, Grutter & Davies, 2009 and G. grandilaris Coetzee, Smit, Grutter & Davies, 2008, all from elasmobranch fishes.