Megastygonitocrella bispinosa ( Karanovic, 2006 ) Karanovic & Hancock, 2009

Karanovic, Tomislav & Hancock, Peter, 2009, On the diagnostic characters of the genus Stygonitocrella (Copepoda, Harpacticoida), with descriptions of seven new species from Australian subterranean waters 2324, Zootaxa 2324 (1), pp. 1-85 : 77

Megastygonitocrella bispinosa ( Karanovic, 2006) comb. nov.

Synonymy. Stygonitocrella bispinosa sp. nov. – Karanovic 2006: p. 197, figs 98–100 & 114D–F.

Material examined. Two adult males preserved in 70% ethanol (DEC voucher collection); Australia, Western Australia, Pilbara region, Cane River , bore CR11/97, 02 August 2003, leg. M. Scanlon & J. Cocking, 21°43’06”S 115°23’37”E .

Remarks. Originally described from a single bore in the Cane River aquifer ( Karanovic 2006), this rare species was collected subsequently only once and less than four kilometres away from the type locality. It is the southernmost representative of the genus Megastygonitocrella gen. nov. in the Pilbara region. It is interesting to note that no species of Stygonitocrella s. l. was collected in the Ashburton River catchment, which is considered to be the southwestern border of this region, or south from the Pilbara region. The two males examined did not have any new variable features.