Gnathia aureamaculosa Ferreira and Smit, 2009

N, Jörundur Svava R S S O & Bruce, Niel L., 2012, New and little-known gnathiid isopod crustaceans (Cymothoida) from the northern Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea, Zootaxa 3380, pp. 1-33 : 7-8

Gnathia aureamaculosa Ferreira and Smit, 2009

Gnathia aureamaculosa Ferreira and Smit, 2009 in Ferreira et al. 2009: 1067, figs 1A–H, 2A–C, 3, 6A, B, 7A. — Wilson et al. 2011: 511, figs 1–5, 6F–G.

Material examined. 4 3 (reared), Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia, 14.681856°S, 145.464922°E, A. Grutter stn m, 1 June 1998, symbiotic with the fish species Hemigymnus melapterus (3 3 MTQ W24856, 1 3 IMNH 2726). 1 3, Lizard Island, off North Point, ‘Washing Machine’, 14.65067°S, 145.4601°E, 17 April 2008, dead coral, 6–8 m, CReefs stn CGLI 038, coll. S. Smith (MTQ W14119).

Remarks. The four reared specimens examined here were reared from larvae collected from the thick-lipped wrasse [ Hemigymnus melapterus (Bloch, 1791; Labridae ) by Grutter et al. (2000)]. These specimens, and the single specimens collected at Lizard Island in 2008 all agree well with the description. The paucity of specimens in the CReefs material suggests that the precise habitat of this species has not yet been located.

Distribution. Known only from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef.