A review of the scopelocheirid amphipods (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Lysianassoidea), with the description of new taxa from Australian waters Author Kilgallen, Niamh M. Australian Museum Research Institute, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia niamh.kilgallen@austmus.gov.au Author Lowry, James K. Australian Museum Research Institute, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia text Zoosystematics and Evolution 2015 2015-03-05 91 1 1 43 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zse.91.8440 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zse.91.8440 1860-0743-1-1 CAFFC884904F40C2AACF12BE3A2F3ECC FF8CFFC4FFA2166F883BFF8BFFE31C49 575740 Scopelocheiropsis Schellenberg, 1926 Scopelocheiropsis Schellenberg, 1926a: 260. - Schellenberg 1942 : 110. - J.L. Barnard 1969 : 305, key K, 361. - Barnard and Karaman 1991 : 527, 434 (key I). Bathycallisoma . - Ledoyer 1986 : 733 (in part, part Bathycallisoma ). Type species. Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis Schellenberg, 1926, monotypy. Included species. Scopelocheiropsis includes three species: Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis Schellenberg, 1926; Scopelocheiropsis armata (Ledoyer, 1986), comb. n.; Scopelocheiropsis sublittoralis Vinogradov, 2004. Diagnostic description. Mandible lacinia mobilis a stemmed, distally expanded, smooth blade . Maxilla 1 inner plate with pappose setae lining inner margin; palp 2-articulate. Maxilla 2 inner and outer plates subequal in width, inner plate slightly shorter than outer. Maxilliped palp article 4 reduced or well developed. Gnathopod 1 coxa large, margins diverging distally; basis slender, linear; dactylus small, simple, highly modified with apical tip. Pereopod 3 carpus compressed, wider than long . Pereopod 4 coxa with weakly-developed, subacutely produced posteroventral lobe. Discussion. Scopelocheiropsis has some variable characters, most importantly the absence of a molar in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis (present in the both Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis and Scopelocheiropsis armata ), and the blunt, reduced maxilliped palp article 4 in Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis (well-developed in the other two species). Nevertheless, the distinctively compressed carpus of pereopods 3 and 4, as well as the stemmed and distally expanded lacinia mobilis are strong diagnostic characters which separate these taxa from other groups.