Lasionectes exleyi, sp, nov., the first remipede crustacean recorded from Australia and the Indian Ocean, with a key to the world species

Abstract

The first remipede crustacean from the Southern Hemisphere and the Indian Ocean is reported. Lasionectes exleyi, sp. nov., is described from an anchialine cave on the Cape Range peninsula of Western Australia. This is the eleventh species of modern remipede to be described and the second species to be described in the genus Lasionectes. A key to all known species is presented. The discovery of remipedes in Australia represents the first occurrence of a genus other than Speleonectes off the Bahamas Banks and only the second continental occurrence of extant remipedes. The species is known from below a density interface in a single nutrient-enriched cave.