Chevalia Walker, 1904

Springthorpe, Roger T. & Hughes, Lauren E., 2024, Re-description of Chevalia aviculae Walker, 1904, five new species and new records of Chevaliidae from Australia and New Zealand (Crustacea: Peracarida: Amphipoda: Senticaudata), Records of the Australian Museum 76 (3), pp. 157-194 : 159-164

Chevalia Walker, 1904

Chevalia Walker, 1904: 288 .—J. L. Barnard, 1969: 271.—J. L. Barnard, 1973: 16.— Conlan, 1983: 60.— Barnard & Thomas, 1987: 532.— Barnard & Karaman, 1991: 182.

Neophotis Stout, 1913: 653 .

Type species. Chevalia aviculae Walker, 1904 .

Diagnosis. (Modified from Barnard & Thomas, 1987; Souza-Filho et al., 2010). Antenna 1 peduncle article 3 shorter than article 1, accessory flagellum 1–3 articulate. Mandible palp article 3 slightly shorter or subequal to article 2, weakly clavate. Maxilla 2 inner plate with oblique facial row of setae. Gnathopod 1 feeble, subchelate, carpus elongate. Gnathopod 2 large, carpus lobate, propodus large, subrectangular, palm defined by a spine, dactyl thick. Dactylus of pereopod 3–4 simple, of pereopods 5–7 strongly curved and with a large accessory spine. Pereopods 5–7 short, stout, increasingly elongate. Urosomites 1–2 fused, urosomite 3 free. Inner rami of uropods 1–2 styliform and unarmed apically. Uropod 1 inner ramus with a row of medial serrate spines. Uropod 3 rami subequal in length, setose apically. Telson subquadrate, as broad as long, dorsally setose.

Remarks. The generic diagnosis is modified from Souza-Filho et al., 2010 in order to accommodate C. freycinet sp. nov. and C. sprightly sp. nov. The expanded character range includes: the mandible with article 3 slightly shorter and now includes subequal to article 2; and also, coxae 1 to 7 being either disjunct or contiguous. The character of coxae 1 and 2 being larger than coxae 3 to 7 is excluded from the generic diagnosis on the basis of non-conformity observed in C. bardi sp. nov., C. burrewarra sp. nov., and C. csiro sp. nov.

Given the recognised prevalence of intersex specimens, the character state of gnathopod 2 similar in males and females is a difficult concept to apply and therefore not treated here as generically diagnostic.