Diversity of Coralliophilinae (Mollusca, Neogastropoda, Muricidae) at Austral Islands (South Pacific)

The Coralliophilinae is a large subfamily of Muricidae, including 200-250 species that feed exclusively on anthozoans. The material collected during the expeditions BENTHAUS and RAPA 2002 at Austral Islands are reviewed. Twenty-eigth species are recorded, one species is described as new, Coralliophila australis n. sp., diagnosed by its large size and elongated shape. All but one species showed a planktotrophic development, 10 species (36%) were from shallow waters and 15 species (54%) from deep waters. The smaller proportion of deep water coralliophiline species (compared to the range and average on a global scale) in this marginal area of the Pacific, suggests that marginality may affect the deep water faunas more than the shallow water ones.