Studies on the New Zealand and subantarctic athoracophoridae

Abstract

A systematic account of the Athoracophoridae of New Zealand and the subantarctic islands is given, together with diagnoses of the Family, genera, and species. The account is based on the study of a total of 241 specimens, which comprise 4 genera, including Reflectopallium n. g. and Palliopodex n. g., and 22 species, including Pseudaneitea maculata, Pseudaneitea gravisulca, Pseudaneitea campbellensis, Pseudaneitea powelli, Pseudaneitea multistriata, Pseudaneitea johnsi, Pseudaneitea aspera, Athoracophorus maculosus, Reflectopallium pseudophyllum, Reflectopallium papillatum, and Reflectopallium delli, n. spp. The genus Amphiconophora Suter is reduced to synonymy with Pseudaneitea Cockerell, and the genus Vomanus Iredale is reduced to synonymy with Athoracophorus Gould. The subspecies Athoracophorus bitentaculatus rufovenosus is synonymised with Athoracophorus bitentaculatus ( Quoy and Gaimard ). A detailed account of the anatomy of Pseudaneitea papillata is given. The distribution of members of the group in New Zealand and the subantarctic islands is discussed, as also are the external relationships and ultimate derivation of the group. A brief account of the natural history of members of the group is given, and comments are made on the reliability of the systematic characters used to differentiate the genera and species.