Mallacoota J.L. Barnard, 1972

HUGHES, L. E., 2011, New species of Hoho, Mallacoota and Parelasmopus (Maeridae: Amphipoda) from Australian waters, Zootaxa 2955 (1), pp. 1-79 : 32

Mallacoota J.L. Barnard, 1972

Diagnosis. Including the characters of the family with: well developed eyes; cheek notch/slit with rounded or subacute anteroventral corner; antenna 1 accessory flagellum short to minute; madibular palp 3-articulate, article 1 not distally swollen, article 2 never shorter than article 1, article 3 rectolinear; maxillipedal palp distomedial flap on the third article; coxa 1 produced anteroventrally; pleonites and urosomites without dorsally serrate posterodistal margins; urosomite 1 dorsally bicarinate.

Remarks. The genus Ifalukia J.L. Barnard, 1972 is presently diagnosed by characters that place it between Elasmopus Costa, 1853 , Mallacoota and Parelasmopus , with the mandibular palp article 1 longer than article 2 ( Parelasmopus ), mandibular palp article 3 rectilinear ( Mallacoota , Parelasmopus ), epimeron 3 posterior margin not serrate ( Elasmopus , Mallacoota ) and urosomite 1 smooth and non-bicarinate ( Elasmopus ). The new species M. barnardi sp. nov. described below, prompts a re-evaluation of these genera. Mallacoota barnardi fits the generic concept of Ifalukia , but, through a striking series of species level characters (see below), it appears to be closely related to a number of described species of Mallacoota than the potential generic congener Ifalukia resacus (J.L. Barnard, 1965) .

To avoid such a paradox, the new species is placed with its apparent allies, Mallacoota magnimerus Appadoo & Myers, 2006 , M. subinsignis Ledoyer, 1979 and M. sculpulosa Lowry & Hughes, 2009 , without expanding the generic concept of the Mallacoota . The species is considered as an exception within the genus on the basis of urosomite 1 smooth, not dorsally bicarinate.

There are 30 species described in the genus Mallacoota : M. balara Berents, 1983 ; M. barnardi sp. nov.; M. bulowara sp. nov.; M. caerulea Appadoo, Myers & Fagoonee, 2002 ; M. capricornia Lowry & Hughes, 2009 ; M. carausui Ortiz, 1976 ; M. chandaniae Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005 ; M. diemenensis ( Haswell, 1879) ; M. euroka Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005 ; M. insignis ( Chevreux, 1901) ; M. kameruka Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005 ; M. kunmunyah sp. nov.; M. latibrachioides ( Sivaprakasam, 1969b) ; M. latibrachium ( Walker, 1905) ; M. latidactylus Ledoyer, 1982 ; M. magnimerus Appadoo & Myers, 2006 ; M. malua Lowry & Springthorpe, 2005 ; M. maridwinae sp. nov.; M. nananui Myers, 1985 ; M. odontoplax ( Pirlot, 1936) ; M. penelope sp. nov.; M. petriei ( Thomson, 1882) ; M. schellenbergi Ledoyer, 1984 ; M. scopulosa Lowry & Hughes, 2009 ; M. sirius sp. nov.; M. sokotrae ( Walker & Scott, 1903) ; M. subcarinata ( Haswell, 1879) ; M. subinsignis Ledoyer, 1979 ; M. unidentata Ren, 1998 and M. worimi sp. nov.