Australatya striolata

Australatya striolata (McCulloch & McNeill 1923)

(Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, Table 1)

Atya striolata McCulloch & McNeill 1923. p. 55; holotype female from Norton’s Basin, Nepean River, New South Wales, Australia.

Atyoida striolata Smith & Williams 1982 (in part), all specimens from New South Wales and from Queensland, except for those from Paluma (Mt Spec), Smoko Ck, and 25 km north of Cooktown as listed on p. 345 of Smith & Williams (1982), and those designated as Type locality, South of type locality, and North of type locality to Brisbane in Table 3 of Smith & Williams (1982).

Australatya striolata Smith 1994 (in part), all specimens from Site Numbers 17 to 29 as listed in Table 1 of Smith (1994) and corresponding sites in Table 2 of Smith (1994).

Remarks. Australatya striolata was first described as Atya striolata by McCulloch & McNeill (1923) and then redescribed as Atyoida striolata by Smith & Williams (1982). Chace (1983) erected the genus Australatya for this species and Smith (1987, 1994) reported on its ecology, distribution, geographic variation in morphology, and population structure. While Smith & Williams (1982) and Smith (1994) commented extensively on the geographic variation in morphology, neither mentioned the possibility of more than one species among the specimens they studied. Genetic and further morphometric analyses, as reported in this paper, identified the presence of two genotypes and three morphotypes (Figs. 1, 2, Table 1). Given the allopatric distribution between A. striolata and the new species, described and discussed below (Australatya hawkei sp. nov.), the specimens of previous authors such as Smith & Williams (1982) and Smith (1994) could confidently be attributed to the two species based on locality. A. striolata is currently known to be distributed along the eastern seaboard of Australia, ranging north from the state of Victoria (about 37°29’S, 149°35’E) to the Sunshine Coast region in Queensland (about 26°30’S, 153°E), while A. hawkei sp. nov. is currently known to occur from near Mackay (about 21°26’S, 149°13’E) to the Cape York Peninsula (about 12°S, 143°E) in Queensland (Fig. 3). While common in Queensland and New South Wales, A. striolata is rare enough at the southern extremity of its range in Victoria to be listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. According to this legislation, no collection or keeping in captivity is permitted. However, they can be bought from local aquarium shops or kept if sourced from interstate (https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/conserving-threatened-species/flora-and-fauna-guarantee-act-1988).