Austromaera Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005

Ariyama, Hiroyuki, 2019, Species of the Maera - clade collected from Japan. Part 2: genera Austromaera Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005 and Quadrimaera Krapp-Schickel & Ruffo, 2000 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Maeridae), Zootaxa 4554 (2), pp. 460-496 : 462

Austromaera Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005

[Japanese name: Minami-sunnariyokoebi-zoku, new]

Austromaera Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005: 241 .— Krapp-Schickel, 2008: 27.— Lowry & Myers, 2013: 36.

Type species. Megamoera mastersii Haswell, 1879 , monotypy.

Emended diagnosis. Body smooth. Head, rostrum obsolescent, lateral cephalic lobe rounded, antennal sinus distinct; eyes ovate. Antennae slender; antenna 1, peduncular articles 1–2 longer than article 3, accessory flagellum with 2–9 articles. Mandible, molar developed; palp article length 2>3>1, article 1 lacking acute distal tooth. Maxilla 1, inner plate bullet-shaped, with apical setae; palp 2-articulate. Coxae short; coxae 5–6 lobate; gills present on coxae 2–6, oostegites present on coxae 2–5. Gnathopod 1 smaller than gnathopod 2, subchelate; propodus longish ovate, palm strongly oblique. Gnathopod 2 not sexually dimorphic, symmetrical, subchelate; carpus short, not lobate; propodus longish ovate, length 1.9–2.5 times width; palm strongly oblique; dactylus with 1(–2) setae on anterior margin. Pereopods, dactyli simple; pereopods 3–4 slender, bases of pereopods 5 – 7 expanded, each with posterodistal lobe. Uropods biramous; uropod 1 peduncle with basofacial robust seta, inner ramus longer than outer ramus, both rami with marginal and distal robust setae; uropod 2 similar to uropod 1, about 0.6 times length of uropod 1; uropod 3, rami lanceolate, subequal in length, outer ramus 1.4 – 2.2 times length of peduncle, distal ends of rami acute, each with 1–3 short setae, longest distal seta on outer ramus <0.1 times length of outer ramus. Telson deeply incised, lobes apically subacute, each bearing 1–3 subapical robust setae, longest seta <0.2 times length of telson.

Included species (4). Austromaera ariakensis sp. nov.; A. brevicaudata ( Ledoyer, 1984) ; A. bruzelii ( Stebbing, 1888) ; A. mastersii ( Haswell, 1879) .

Remarks. This genus is similar to Othomaera Krapp-Schickel, 2000 in having the symmetrical male gnathopod 2 with oblique palm, the simple dactyli of the pereopods 3 – 7, and the pointed tips of the uropod 3 rami. However, Austromaera can be distinguished from Othomaera by the expanded bases of the pereopods 5 – 7 each with posterodistal lobe ( Krapp-Schickel 2008).