Elaphognathia Monod, 1926

Svavarsson, Jörundur & Bruce, Niel L., 2019, New gnathiid isopod crustaceans (Cymothoida) from Heron Island and Wistari Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef, Zootaxa 4609 (1), pp. 31-67 : 32

Genus Elaphognathia Monod, 1926

Type species. Anceus ferox Haswell, 1884 ; subsequent designation by Cohen & Poore (1994).

Diagnosis. Eyes present. Frontal margin of cephalon transverse, often deeply excavated; with frontal processes which may be emarginate. Mandibles long, cylindrical; often lacking mandibular blade, though may possess numerous specialised structures. Pereonite 1 immersed in cephalon. Pylopod 2- or 3-articled; operculate, article 1 enlarged, generally with dense external margin of plumose setae; article 3 small or absent (modified from Cohen & Poore 1994).

Remarks. The generic diagnosis is here slightly modified. The frontal excavation varies considerably between species, being very deep in some species (e.g. E. lucanoides Monod, 1926 ), while only moderate indented in the species described here. A mandibular blade is often lacking, but is present in several species (e.g. E. australis Svavarsson & Bruce, 2012 ).

Currently, 23 species of Elaphognathia are known, of which six occur in Australian waters, namely Elaphognathia ferox (Haswell, 1884) , E. bifurcilla ( Holdich & Harrison, 1980) , E. forceps ( Holdich & Harrison, 1980) , E. rimifrons ( Holdich & Harrison, 1980) , E. froygattella Cohen & Poore, 1994 and E. australis Svavarsson & Bruce, 2012 ( Cohen & Poore 1994, Boyko et al. 2008 onwards, Svavarsson & Bruce 2012). Here, the seventh Australian species is described.