The systematics of the pseudoscorpion genus Indohya (Pseudoscorpiones: Hyidae) in Australia.

The pseudoscorpion genus Indohya Beier, 1974 is known to occur in three Gondwanan fragments around the Indian Oceansouthern India, Madagascar and north-western Australiasuggesting that the genus had evolved prior to the breakup of Gondwana and was present on each landmass as they rifted apart during the Mesozoic. The Australian fauna is the most diverse, with nine species previously described from Cape Range and the Kimberley region of north-western Australia. The present study documents the genus Indohya in Australia using a combination of morphology and DNA sequence data. We found a total of 36 species, including 27 new species. The majority of the Pilbara fauna consist of blind troglobites collected from subterranean ecosystems, with an additional three eyed species from epigean habitats. The new species consist of one from Cape Range (I. anastomosa Harvey & Burger, n. sp.), 21 from the Pilbara (I. adlardi Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. alexanderi Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. aphana Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. aquila Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. arcana Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. arnoldstrongi Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. boltoni Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. cardo Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. catherineae Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. cockingi Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. cribbi Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. draconis Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. furtiva Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. incomperta Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. jessicae Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. lynbeazlyeae Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. morganstrongi Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. rixi Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. sagmata Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. scanloni Harvey & Burger, n. sp. and I. silenda Harvey & Burger, n. sp.) and five from the Kimberley (I. currani Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. finitima Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. julianneae Harvey & Burger, n. sp., I. karenae Harvey & Burger, n. sp. and I. sachsei Harvey & Burger, n. sp.). The study is augmented with sequence data from 29 species of Indohya, including all of the 24 species recorded from the Pilbara and Cape Range, and five of the 12 known Kimberley species. Seven clades recovered during the molecular analysis are only represented by nymphs, but we used COI sequence data to diagnose these species in the absence of adult morphological data.

Biogeography of the stygobitic isopod Pygolabis (Malacostraca: Tainisopidae) in the Pilbara, Western Australia: evidence for multiple colonisations of the groundwater.

COI sequence variation in groundwater amphipods of Western Australia showed multiple highly divergent lineages associated with tributaries. Estimates of the timing of this diversification are consistent with the hypothesis that aridification of the region during the Tertiary forced freshwater fauna into subterranean refugia. The groundwater isopod Pygolabis provides an opportunity to compare phylogenetic signals in co-distributed taxa that might share similar histories. A 549 bp fragment of COI was sequenced for 135 individuals of Pygolabis from 12 sites. Phylogenetic analyses revealed 12 highly divergent lineages associated with tributary boundaries. Lineages were separated by 11.8-27.8% sequence divergence. This level of divergence is consistent with diversification in the Pliocene, supporting the aridification hypothesis. While lineages were associated with distinct tributaries in both amphipods and Pygolabis, the two groups showed different phylogenetic patterns, suggesting that the mode of colonisation of the groundwater differed between the amphipods and Pygolabis.

Speciation in fractured rock landforms: towards understanding the diversity of subterranean cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Nocticolidae: Nocticola) in Western Australia.

Three new species of subterranean cockroach of the genus Nocticola from the Pilbara region of Western Australia are described on morphological characters of males. Nocticola quartermainei n. sp., Nocticola cockingi n. sp. and Nocticola currani n. sp. occur in fractured rock landforms and have varying degrees of troglomorphies. Sequence divergence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COXI) clearly demonstrated populations are reproductively isolated over very short distances for the highly troglomorphic Nocticola cockingi n. sp. and Nocticola currani n. sp. and conversely, there is less isolation within the same landforms for the less troglomorphic Nocticola quartermainei n. sp.

BIOGEOGRAPHY OF A WIDESPREAD FRESHWATER CRUSTACEAN: PSEUDOCONGRUENCE AND CRYPTIC ENDEMISM IN THE NORTH AMERICAN DAPHNIA LAEVIS COMPLEX.

The lack of morphological variation in many freshwater invertebrates over vast distances has been cited as evidence for their frequent, long-distance dispersal. This scenario implies that vicariance will be an insignificant determinant of species distributions or diversity. We carried out a phylogeographic and population genetics study of one widespread crustacean group, the North American Daphnia laevis complex. Allozyme and sequence variation of two mtDNA genes (12S and 16S rRNA) clearly indicates the existence of five morphologically cryptic, largely allopatric groups (Daphnia dubia, D. laevis laevis, D. laevis gessneri, D. magniceps magniceps, and D. magniceps pacifica ssp. n.). Within each of these groups, there is weak or no genetic differentiation over large geographic areas suggesting their recent long-distance dispersal. The present-day distributions and phylogeography of the regional groups suggests the occurrence of both deep and shallow vicariance events. Although divergence times from mtDNA sequences do indicate both deep and shallow divergences, these estimates are incongruent with their proposed vicariance times. The results show that even within closely related freshwater invertebrates, a complex biogeography exists, whose analysis is made difficult by long-distance dispersal, cryptic endemism, and pseudocongruence.