Further studies on the fairy shrimp genus Branchinella (Crustacea, Anostraca, Thamnocephalidae) in Western Australia, with descriptions of new species

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 8 years ago

ABSTRACT – Four new species of Branchinella are described from Western Australia: B. multidigitata sp. nov., B. papillata sp. nov., B. pinderi sp. nov. and B. vosperi sp. nov. The name B. mcraei is corrected to B. mcraeae. New records of B. compacta and B. pinnata, previously known from eastern Australia, are also presented, bringing the number of Western Australian Branchinella species to 25. Fourteen of these are endemic, by far the greatest for any Australian state. This biodiversity hotspot for this genus and family is tacilltated by localised distributions latitudinally and not by niche diversificatior; there are few sympatric occurrences. Extremely turbid waters are common habitats. Some species distributed across the continent exhibit morphological differences in Western Australia.