On species of the genus Thermocyclops (Copepoda: Cyclopidae) occurring in northern Queensland, Australia

The paper reports on the occurrence of five Thermocyclops species in urban subterranean habitats in North Queensland, Australia: T. crucis sp. nov., T. pseudoperculifer sp. nov., T. rylovi (Smirnov), T. crassus (Fischer), and T. decipiens (Kiefer). Females and males of T. operculifer (Kiefer), a supposedly close relative of the Australian taxon T. pseudoperculifer, is redescribed based on the holotype (Lombok) and non-type material (Sulawesi) from Indonesia. Thermocyclops crucis sp. nov. and T. pseudoperculifer sp. nov. (tropical coast of Queensland) share the caudally spinulose ornamentation of P2-P4 couplers and bare PI coupler with T. operculifer (Indonesia: Lombok, Sulawesi) and T. uenoi (Japan: Kyushu, Tomogashima Island). Diagnostic values of the morphological characters used to define the 'schmeili-growp' sensu Mirabdullayev and Fiers, to which both new Australian taxa might be allocated, are discussed. Finding of T. rylovi known so far from East Africa, Central and South Asia, in a semiarid inland locality in Queensland, is the first record of the species in Australia. Descriptions and illustrations of the diagnostic characters of T. crassus and T. decipiens are provided, and the morphology of the Australian specimens is compared with that in the European and Southeast Asian representatives. An identification key to all Thermocyclops species occurring in Australia is added.