Galkinius perreault, 2014 or darwiniella (Anderson, 1992)? a new coral-associated barnacle sharing characteristics of these two genera in pacific waters (crustacea, cirripedia, thoracica, pyrgomatidae)

Abstract

A new species of coral associated barnacle (Balanomorpha: Pyrgomatidae) sharing morphological features of Darwiniella (Anderson, 1992) and Galkinius Perreault, 2014 is described. It has a fused shell and opercular plates, characteristic of Darwiniella. However, the morphology of the tergum and somatic body are closer to Galkinius. Sequence divergence of mitochondrial DNA 12S rDNA and COI reveals this new species clusters with the Galkinius clade. Therefore this new form is assigned to the genus Galkinius, as G. maculosus sp. n. Concomitantly the diagnosis of Galkinius is emended to include species with fused or four-plated shells and fused opercular plates. The new species is distinct from all Galkinius species in having a fused shell. It inhabits the corals Lobophyllia spp. and is distributed from the Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea, Orchid Island of Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean, to Madang in Papua New Guinea waters.