A review of Bennelongia De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 (Crustacea, Ostracoda) species from eastern Australia with the description of three new species

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p><span>Australia is predicted to have a high number of currently undescribed ostracod taxa. The genus <em>Bennelongia</em> De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 (Crustacea, Ostracoda) occurs in Australia and New Zealand, and has recently shown potential for high speciosity, after the description of nine new species from Western Australia. Here, we focus on <em>Bennelongia</em> from eastern Australia, with the objectives of exploring likely habitats for undiscovered species, genetically characterising published morphological species and scanning classical species for cryptic diversity. Two traditional (morphological) species are confirmed to be valid using molecular evidence (<em>B. harpago</em> De Deckker & McKenzie, 1981 and </span><em>B. pinpi</em> De Deckker, 1981), while three new species are described using both morphological and molecular evidence. Two of the new species belong to the <em>B. barangaroo</em> lineage (<em>B. dedeckkeri</em> sp. nov. and <em>B. mckenziei</em> sp. nov.), while the third is a member of the <em>B. nimala </em>lineage (<em>B. regina</em> sp. nov.). Another species was found to be genetically distinct, but is not formally described here owing to a lack of distinguishing morphological features from the existing species <em>B. cuensis</em> Martens <em>et al.</em>, 2012. Trends in diversity and radiation of the genus are discussed, as well as implications these results have for the conservation of temporary pool microfauna and our understanding of <em>Bennelongia</em>’s evolutionary origin.</p><div><span><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>