In Australia there are two Tripneustes species, the tropical T. gratilla gratilla and the temperate T. kermadecensis. We found potential senior type material for the recently described T. kermadecensis in the Australian Museum described as Evechinus australiae (Tenison-Woods, 1878) 150 years ago. Our genetic and morphological analyses showed that these two species represent the same taxon, and therefore the correct designation of this taxon is Tripneustes australiae (Tenison-Woods, 1878). This study is important as Tripneustes australiae is shown to be a common species on the south-east coast of Australia and should be considered in regional conservation and management. (Photograph by Emily McLaren.)

The remarkable similarity among three putatively cryptic morphotypes of A. wykoffi necessitated an integrative phylogenetic assessment. Both morphological analysis and DNA (COI and 28S rRNA) sequence data showed that the three morphotypes represent three well-supported clades interpreted as three different species viz. A. wykoffi (sensu stricto), A. longispira sp. nov. and A. khelangensis sp. nov. We therefore provide a new taxonomic interpretation of this poorly known species and describe two new closely related (but not sister) cryptic species.