The bryozoan genus Conopeum (Electridae) in New Zealand, with description of a new species and discussion of the morphological and genetic characters of Conopeum seurati (Canu, 1928)

The status of Conopeum Gray, 1848 in New Zealand is clarified, confirming the presence of three living species–one a naturalised alien, one new to science, and a third that is also known in the Pleistocene. Conopeum seurati (Canu, 1928), a Mediterranean-European species, is naturalised at three localities in New Zealand–Opua, Whangarei Harbour and Whanganui Inlet. Conopeum antipodum n. sp., previously confused with C. seurati, is an estuarine species distributed from Kaipara Harbour to Lyttelton Harbour and is also found in Te Whanga Lagoon at Chatham Island (all New Zealand localities). Conopeum oretiensis Uttley, 1951, first described from Foveaux Strait, is known as far north as Kaipara and Manukau Harbours and is known as a Pleistocene fossil from Napier, New Zealand. There is one other solely fossil New Zealand species–Plio-Pleistocene Electra ongleyi Brown, 1952 is transferred to Conopeum. Sequence data from the 18SrDNA locus confirm that Conopeum antipodum n. sp. is resolved within Conopeum and is distinct from C. seurati. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4FED6730-1C70-4420-B1DA-F1D9046221DFhttp://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org.pub:5C130A99-0869-44A2-885C-338005FBCE07.