An analysis of the genus Leucothoe Leach, 1814 (Amphipoda: Leucothoidae) in New Zealand, with the description of two new species symbiotic with ascidians and sponges

Leucothoids (family Leucothoidae Dana, 1852) are amphipods often associated with sponges and are relatively poorly recorded in New Zealand waters, with only four species previously recorded. Two newly discovered species, Leucothoe agripeta sp. nov. and L. tumultus sp. nov. are described from a sponge off Aotea Quay, Wellington, New Zealand and an ascidian from the Chatham Rise, eastern New Zealand, respectively. Leucothoe traillii Thomson, 1881 is redescribed and a neotype assigned. A key to the New Zealand species of Leucothoe as well as a discussion of their host-specificity and ecology are also provided.