Description of a new species of Thaumastochelopsis from the Coral Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Nephropoidea)

Abstract

A new species of homaridan lobster, Thaumastochelopsis brucei sp. nov., is described from the Coral Sea. The new species is the second in the genus and differs chiefly from the type species, Thaumastochelopsis wardi Bruce, 1988, in the armature of the dactylus and pollex of the major cheliped. The high degree of divergence (8.4%) between 12S rRNA sequences of T. wardi and T. brucei strongly corroborates their specific separation. A key to the extant species of Thaumastochelidae is provided.