An increasing number of Antarctic invertebrate taxa have been revealed as cryptic species complexes following DNA-based assessments. This ultimately necessitates a morphological reassessment to find traits that will help identify these cryptic or pseudocryptic species without the need for sequencing every individual. This work concerns comatulid crinoid echinoderms long considered to represent a single, circum-Antarctic species, Promachocrinus kerguelensis. The first molecular studies sought to distinguish the diversity in the complex and understand the constituent species distributions but stopped short of formal taxonomic assessment. Here, we continued to increase sample representation around the Southern Ocean and sequenced the mitochondrial COI gene for all new specimens, and additional genes for a few representatives. We also elucidated previously unappreciated features, particularly body pigmentation and morphology of the centrodorsal ossicle in an attempt to diagnose some species morphologically and based on DNA data. The species complex within Promachocrinus is here resolved into P. kerguelensis Carpenter, 1879, P. vanhoeffenianus Minckert, 1905, P. joubini Vaney, 1910, P. mawsoni (Clark, 1937) comb. nov. (transferred from Florometra) and four previously unnamed species, P. fragarius sp. nov., P. unruhi sp. nov., P. uskglassi sp. nov. and P. wattsorum sp. nov. Although most species can be distinguished morphologically, several cannot be reliably separated without DNA data. All sequenced species are essentially circum-Antarctic, with the notable exception of P. wattsorum sp. nov. that is restricted to the Prince Edward Islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean and P. vanhoeffenianus that is only known from the type locality in the Davis Sea. The vast nature of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystem dictates large scale sampling to understand the full extent of the biodiversity.

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F871CDC8-973B-48CE-8A61-33658D4EB4B1

The butterfly genus Ogyris Angas, 1847 consists of several striking but poorly resolved complexes endemic to Australia and New Guinea, many of which have an obligate association with ants. Here, we revise the systematics of the Ogyris aenone (Waterhouse, 1902) complex through an integrative taxonomic approach based on molecular phylogenetic analysis, morphological examination, life histories and ecology. Mitochondrial sequence data based on concatenated cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and cytochrome b (cytb) (total of 1203 bp) for 36 ingroup samples were generated and combined with sequences available on NCBI GenBank for Ogyris. Phylogenetic analysis inferred by maximum likelihood methods resolved five taxa within this group, with one taxon, Ogyris caelestia Beaver & Braby sp. nov., described as a new species and another, O. doddi stat. rev., raised to full species. Phylogenetic relationships among the five taxa are as follows: (O. caelestia + O. aenone) + (O. ianthis + (O. iphis + O. doddi)). This revision brings the number of recognised Ogyris species to 16 and for the tribe Ogyrini to 18. This group of butterflies was found to be scarce – field samples of host trees that had the co-occurrence of both mistletoe and the appropriate attendant ant at 12 locations in eastern and northern Australia revealed low rates of occupancy (<50%, with an overall average of 17%) based on the presence of immature stages of the five butterfly species. The complete life histories, general biology and ecology of all members of this species-group are illustrated and diagnosed for the first time and confusing aspects of the literature are clarified. Several taxa are of conservation significance, including the new species, and future directions are discussed in relation to this.

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FC258ED6-AA1F-4E11-BFE1-D0A612E4F166