Two new species of crayfish of the genus Cherax from Indonesian New Guinea (Crustacea, Decapoda, Parastacidae)

Abstract. Two new species of the genus Cherax are described and illustrated. Cherax mosessalossa sp. n., endemic to the Klademak Creek drainage in Sorong, in the western part of the Kepala Burung (Vogelkop) peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia, is described, figured and compared with its closest relatives, Cherax misolicus Holthuis, 1949 and Cherax warsamsonicus. The new species may be easily distinguished from both by the shape of the rostrum, the shape of the chelae, the presence of five cervical spines, the shape of the scaphocerite, and short scattered hairs on the carapace. Cherax alyciae sp. n., endemic to creeks in the Digul River drainage in the eastern part of the Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, Indonesia, is described, figured, and compared with its closest relative, Cherax peknyi Lukhaup & Herbert, 2008. The new species may be easily distinguished from Cherax peknyi by the shape of the chelae, presence of a soft patch on the chelae of the males, and colouration. A molecular phylogeny based on two mitochondrial gene fragments, 16S and COI, supports the morphology-based description of the two new species, which can also be clearly distinguished by sequence differences.