Abstract

Lord Howe Island and associated island, Balls Pyramid, in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, have a surprising diversity of terrestrial isopods. New species in the genera Pyrgoniscus, Cubaris and a new genus (Stigmops, n.gen.) of the family Armadillidae are described from Australian Museum collections made on Lord Howe Island. Two species, formerly placed in Anchicubaris, are moved to the new genus. Anchicubaris is revised to show how it differs from the new genus. With these changes, species of Anchicubaris no longer occur on Lord Howe Island. A lectotype for Anchicubaris fongosiensis is assigned. The homonymy of Cubaris granulatus Lewis, 1998b is resolved with a new name and a type species for the genus Sphenodillo Lewis, 1998b is assigned. A key to Lord Howe Armadillidae is provided. The biogeography of Armadillidae genera on Lord Howe Island shows possible links to neighbouring regions of New Caledonia and eastern Australia. Because relationships of species in the large genera Cubaris and Pyrgoniscus are unknown, precise area relationships cannot be estimated. The high diversity and presence of armadillids on the nearby rock, Balls Pyramid, suggests that the Lord Howe fauna is a contracted remnant of a much larger Pleistocene fauna, when lowered sea levels provided interconnections and much larger areas.

 
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Bibliographic Data

Short Form
Lillemets and Wilson, 2002, Rec. Aust. Mus. 54(1): 71–98
Author
Birgitta Lillemets; George D. F. Wilson
Year
2002
Title
Armadillidae (Crustacea: Isopoda) from Lord Howe Island: new taxa and biogeography
Serial Title
Records of the Australian Museum
Volume
54
Issue
1
Start Page
71
End Page
98
DOI
10.3853/j.0067-1975.54.2002.1360
Language
en
Date Published
01 June 2002
Cover Date
01 June 2002
ISSN (print)
0067-1975
CODEN
RAUMAJ
Publisher
The Australian Museum
Place Published
Sydney, Australia
Subjects
CRUSTACEA: ISOPODA; LORD HOWE ISLAND
Digitized
01 June 2002
Available Online
01 June 2002
Reference Number
1360
EndNote
1360.enw
Title Page
1360.pdf
File size: 11kB
Complete Work
1360_complete.pdf
File size: 8027kB