Marine biogeographers have long speculated that macroalgal rafting presents a dispersal mechanism for brooding marine invertebrates of the Southern Ocean, but few direct observations of rafting by echinoderm taxa have been documented. Here we report rafting of the brooding benthic sea star Anasterias suteri, along with two mollusc taxa (Onithochiton neglectus – also a brooder – and Cantharidus roseus), on detached bull-kelp Durvillaea antarctica in Foveaux Strait, southern New Zealand. The rafting journey, intercepted at sea, likely lasted for 2–3 weeks and may have covered several hundred kilometres. We use DNA sequences, together with meteorological and prevailing oceanographic data, to infer the likely Fiordland (mainland) origins of the raft and its epifauna. This rafting dispersal mechanism provides an explanation for the broad (circum-subantarctic) but disjunct distribution of brooding Anasterias populations, and for the genetic connectivity observed between their populations.

Using the complementary approaches of morphological and molecular taxonomy is essential to further our understanding of invertebrate diversity, including the identification of cryptic species. Although the species classification of a widespread group of arachnids, the pseudoscorpions, has been based on traditional diagnostic characters for a long time, recent taxonomic studies have suggested that some of these are unreliable for distinguishing species. Thus, the application of molecular taxonomy may be particularly useful in this group. Here, we performed molecular phylogenetic analyses and species delimitation analyses based on partial sequences of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase I and nuclear DNA 18S rRNA genes to assess the taxonomy of species and the reliability of morphological characteristics for distinguishing species in the Japanese soil-dwelling genus Mundochthonius (Chthoniidae). Our results revealed the existence of seven major genetic clades, likely corresponding to three described species and four cryptic species. Although two described species, M. kiyoshii and M. itohi, were represented by single clades in the phylogenetic analysis, a third, M. japonicus, was composed of multiple clades, highlighting inconsistencies between phylogenetic relationships and current species classifications using traditional morphological diagnostics. This study exemplifies the need for further exploration of pseudoscorpion taxonomy and species diversity. In particular, detailed morphological examinations are expected to help determine differences among cryptic species.

The uplift of the Panamanian isthmus in the Pliocene caused the termination of gene flow among members of many ancestral populations of marine lineages leading the diversification of geminate species confined to opposite sides of Central America. This palaeogeographical event has been evoked to explain the diversification of few lineages of batoids with trans-isthmian distribution. As such, there is the expectation that this vicariance event also affected lineages of parasites associated with them. Our study suggests that this event can explain the diversification of Parachristianella Dollfus, 1946 (Trypanorhyncha : Eutetrarhynchidae) in the Caribbean Sea and tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. We provide molecular, morphological and biogeographical evidence to recognise five lineages within this genus inhabiting the coastal waters of Panama, including P. parva Campbell & Beveridge, 2007 and four new species: P. mendozai, sp. nov., P. kuchtai, sp. nov., P. campbelli, sp. nov. and P. soldanovae, sp. nov. These species can be diagnosed by unambiguous sets of molecular characters. The morphological cohesiveness of sister species, which most likely diverged from around 3 million years ago through the uplift of the Panamanian isthmus, suggests that the traditional emphasis on the tentacular armature to circumscribe species within trypanorhynchs might underestimate the diversity of recently diverged lineages.

Bombyliinae, one of the largest subfamilies of Bombyliidae, including 78 genera assigned to four tribes, is distributed on all continents except Antarctica. Their larvae are parasitoids, and adults are important pollinators. The Australian Bombyliinae currently has 17 described genera and 87 described species. The purpose of this study is to establish the phylogeny of the Australian members of the subfamily Bombyliinae, including the boundaries and relationships of the genera, using morphological characters. One maximum parsimony tree was generated from 83 morphological characters scored for 50 species, representing all recognised genera and some unplaced species that we considered may represent new genera. Phylogenetic analysis recovered the relationships between the recognised Australian genera of Bombyliinae and clarified generic limits. The group comprises five main clades, with the genus Pilosia being sister to the remaining Bombyliinae. On the basis of this analysis, four new genera are described: Lambkinomyia Li & Yeates, gen. nov., Dissodesma Bowden & Li, gen. nov., Nigromyia Li & Yeates, gen. nov. and Robertsmyia Li & Yeates, gen. nov. Ten new species are described: Dissodesma immaculata Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Dissodesma flava Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Dissodesma smarti Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Nigromyia collessi Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Nigromyia crocea Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Nigromyia flavimana Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Nigromyia longistriata Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Nigromyia pantherina Li & Yeates, sp. nov., Nigromyia parva Li & Yeates, sp. nov. and Nigromyia tomentosa Li & Yeates, sp. nov. Two new junior synonyms are identified: Apiformyia is a junior synonym of Eristalopsis and Brychosoma is a junior synonym of Staurostichus. The following new combinations are proposed: from Apiformyia: Eristalopsis australis (Yeates), comb. nov.; from Bombylius: Dissodesma primogenita (Walker) comb. nov.; from Brychosoma: Staurostichus aureolatus (Walker), comb. nov., Staurostichus hilaris (Walker), comb. nov. and Staurostichus pictipennis (Macquart), comb. nov.; from Laurella: Robertsmyia pallidoventris (Roberts), comb. nov.; from Mandella: Lambkinomyia cinctiventris (Roberts), comb. nov., Lambkinomyia flavovillosa (Roberts), comb. nov., Lambkinomyia pallida (Roberts), comb. nov. and Lambkinomyia rubida (Roberts), comb. nov.; and from Meomyia: Mandella australis (Guérin-Méneville), comb. nov.

Despite numerous phylogenetic analyses of the orb-weaving spider family Tetragnathidae, several relationships from the subfamily to species level are tenuous or unclear. One such example regards the validity and composition of the tetragnathid subfamily Metainae, which historically has mixed support and limited taxon sampling. Sequences for six genetic markers – 12S, 16S, 18S, 28S, cytochrome c oxidase I and histone H3 – were analysed for 78 taxa, including 10 that were completely new or with increased markers. Analysed in both maximum likelihood and Bayesian frameworks, we find good support for Metainae for the first time. The subfamily includes three previously described genera – Meta, Metellina and Dolichognatha – in addition to one described herein, Zhinu Kallal & Hormiga, gen. nov., from Taiwan. Also within Metainae, we synonymise Metellina with the monotypic Menosira and reaffirm the synonymy of Dolichognatha with Prolochus. Finally, we describe a new species of leucaugine tetragnathid from the Philippines, Orsinome megaloverpa, sp. nov., the second member of Orsinome to be placed in a phylogenetic context.

The number of subterranean taxa discovered in the north of Western Australia has substantially increased due to the requirements for environmental surveys related to mining development. Challenges in estimating subterranean biodiversity and distributions are related to lack of knowledge of taxa with convergent morphological characters in a largely unobservable ecosystem setting. An integrated approach is warranted to understand such complexity.

Bathynellidae occur in most Australian aquifers, but only one species has been described so far, and the group lacks a reliable taxonomic framework. A new genus and one new species from the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Pilbaranella ethelensis, gen. et sp. nov., is described using both morphological and molecular data. Three additional species of Pilbaranella are defined through mitochondrial and nuclear genes, using Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery and Poisson Tree Processes species delimitation methods. A comparison of morphology and 18S rRNA sequences between Pilbaranella, gen. nov. and known lineages provides the evidentiary basis for the decision to establish a new genus. This study provides a morphological and molecular framework to work with Bathynellidae, especially in Australia where a highly diverse fauna remains still undescribed.

Glypheids first appeared in the Lower Triassic period and were believed to be extinct until specimens of Neoglyphea inopinata Forest & Saint Laurent and Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica Richer de Forges were described in 1975 and 2006, respectively. The finding of extant species has meant that molecular data can now be used to complement morphological and fossil-based studies to investigate the relationships of Glypheidea within the Decapoda. However, despite several molecular studies, the placement of this infraorder within the decapod phylogenetic tree is not resolved. One limitation is that molecular resources available for glypheids have been limited to a few nuclear and mitochondrial gene fragments. Many of the more recent large-scale studies of decapod phylogeny have used information from complete mitogenomes, but have excluded the infraorder Glypheidea due to the unavailability of complete mitogenome sequences. Using next-generation sequencing, we successfully sequenced and assembled complete mitogenome sequences from museum specimens of N. inopinata and L. neocaledonica, the only two extant species of glypheids. With these sequences, we constructed the first decapod phylogenetic tree based on whole mitogenome sequences that includes Glypheidea as one of 10 decapod infraorders positioned within the suborder Pleocyemata. From this, the Glypheidea appears to be a relatively derived lineage related to the Polychelida and Astacidea. Also in our study, we conducted a survey on currently available decapod mitogenome resources available on National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and identified infraorders that would benefit from more strategic and expanded taxonomic sampling.

Monanchora Carter, 1883 is a genus of shallow-water marine sponges comprising 16 species distributed worldwide, two of them in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA): M. arbuscula (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) and M. brasiliensis Esteves, Lerner, Lôbo-Hajdu & Hajdu, 2012. The former species stands out as one of the most variable demosponges, and is very similar in spicule complement and in secondary metabolite chemistry to the Mediterranean/eastern Atlantic Crambe crambe (Schmidt, 1862), type species of Crambe Vosmaer, 1880. The aim of the present study was to revise the genus Monanchora in the TWA. In addition, we critically analyse the monophyly of Crambe and Monanchora. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analyses of 28S and 16S rRNA sequences of the latter genera, and a redescription of the ‘M. arbuscula complex’, revealed three species: M. arbuscula s.s., M. coccinea, sp. nov. and a new species of Acarnidae – Iophon parvachela, sp. nov. Three other new species from the TWA previously assigned to Monanchora were revealed by morphological analyses, and are also described: M. bahamensis, sp. nov., M. megasigmifera, sp. nov. and a new species of Chondropsidae – Batzella catarinensis, sp. nov. A key for species identification is provided. Our results suggest that the Eastern Brazil and Southeastern Brazil Ecoregions may represent centres of diversity for Monanchora in the TWA.