THE TAXONOMY AND PHYLOGENY OF TUBE-TAILED SPHAEROMATID ISOPODS (CRUSTACEA) WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES AND A NEW GENUS FROM SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA

The genus Cymodocella Pfeffer, 1887, is revised and three new species are described from southern Australian coastals waters: Cymodocella am bonota sp. nov., from the central New South Wales coast, Cymodocella g labella sp. nov. (incertae sedis) from Lord Howe Island, and Cymodocel la ankylosauria sp. nov. (incertae sedis) from coastal islands off Sou th Australia. The genus is characterized by having an elongate, poster iorly directed, ventrally closed cube to the pleotelson, pleopod one w ith a medially indurate endopod and the antennule with colinear pedunc ular articles. Diclidocella gen. nov. is established for those tube-ta iled Dynameninae with operculate first pleopods, short epistome and an tennule peduncular article 2 posteriorly offset; three new species are described: Diclidocella bullata sp, nov., Diclidocella ngake sp. nov. and Diclidocella yackatoon sp. nov. (the latter two species being pro visionally regarded as incertae sedis). The genus is recorded from Tas mania, Victoria, South Australia and southern Western Australia. Speci es of Cymodocella and Diclidocella gen. nov. belong to a distinct grou p of southern hemisphere genera. The diagnostic characters of this gro up are presented. Character states of the tube-tailed genera are revie wed. The phylogenetic significance and homoplasy of certain characters is assessed, in particular the occurrence of tube-tails within the Sp haeromatidae. Cladistic analysis of the species of Cymodocella suggest s that the genus is a polyphyletic taxon. The phylogeny of the species and their geographic distribution are briefly discussed. Two species, on the basis of character evaluation resulting from examination of th e tt pes, are transferred to Ischyromene: I. bicolor (Barnard, 1914) c omb. nov. and I. magna (Barnard, 1954) comb. nov.