Abstract

Three species of the genus Ophelina are described from northern Australian waters. Ophelina fauveli (Caullery, 1944) is reported for the first time in Australian waters and its description has been updated; the two other species are new to science and are formally described. The main diagnostic characters for the species are based on differences in the pygidial funnel. Ophelina tessellata sp. nov. is distinguished by having a club-shaped funnel with a distinctive tessellated pattern on the ventral edge. Ophelina cyprophilia sp. nov. has a more elongated pygidial funnel and fewer rim cirri. Recognition of these two morphologically similar species was supported by sequences of the cytochrome oxidase I and histone H3 genes.

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