© The Author, 2014. Journal compilation © Australian Museum, Sydney, 2014 
Records of the Australian Museum (2014) Vol. 66, issue number 2, pp. 111-166. 
ISSN 0067-1975 (print), ISSN 2201-4349 (online) 
http://dx.doi.org/! 0.3853/j .2201 -4349.66.2014.1595 
Porcellidiidae of Australia (Harpacticoida, Copepoda). 
II. The Importance of the 
Male Antennule in Taxonomy 
Vernon A. Harris 
138/99 Doolong Road, Kawungan Queensland 4655, Australia 
vaharris@bigpond. com 
Abstract. Nine new species belonging to the Porcellidiidae are described from Queensland and New 
South Wales, Australia. Two new genera Ravania gen. nov., and Synurus gen. nov., have been erected to 
accommodate three new species from Queensland, Ravania wellsi sp. nov., R. doliocauda sp. nov., and 
Synurus ctenocheirus sp. nov. Two other new species, Acutiramus bipunctatus sp. nov., and Kensakia 
australis sp. nov., are also described from Queensland. Four new species are added to the New South 
Wales list, Kushia spathoides sp. no Acutiramus edenensis sp. nov., A. cumulus sp. nov., and A iwasakii 
sp. nov. A Japanese species, Clavigoferapacifica, is recorded from NSW. This brings the total number of 
species known for the East coast of Australia to 30. The importance of the male antennule in taxonomy 
of the family is discussed. 
Keywords: Porcellidiidae, Porcellidium, Ravania, Synurus. 
Harris, Vernon A. 2014. Porcellidiidae of Australia (Harpacticoida, Copepoda). II. The importance of the male 
antennule in taxonomy. Records of the Australian Museum 66(2): 111-166. 
Twenty species of Porcellidiidae have been described from 
New South Wales and Victoria, but none from Queensland, 
Australia. They were placed in seven genera ( Porcellidium 
and Acutiramus, Harris & Robertson (1994), Tectacingulum, 
Murramia, Kioloaria and Brevifrons Harris, (1994) and 
Dilatatiocauda , Harris (2002), however, Walker-Smith 
(2001) placed Acutiramus , Murramia and Kioloaria in 
Porcellidium on the grounds that they were not based on 
apomorphic characters. This confusion arose from the 
fact that the type species for Porcellidium had never been 
adequately described. The re-description of Porcellidium 
viride (see Harris, 2014) has enabled a definitive diagnosis 
to be given for the genus and the validity of all the proposed 
genera to be reassessed. The species recorded from South 
Australia by Nicholls (1941) are not considered here because 
his descriptions are inaccurate and do not allow positive 
identification. 
The present account describes five new species from 
Queensland. Two of these share many features with 
Porcellidium ravanae Thompson & Scott, 1903 which 
was re-described by Wells & Rao (1987). Some of their 
characters appear to be apomorphic. This excludes them 
from Porcellidium and so it is proposed to place them in a 
new genus, Ravania gen. nov. A third Queensland species 
resembles Porcellidium unicus Ummerkutty, 1970. They 
both share a number of apomorphic characters which exclude 
