Themiste (Lagenopsis) dehamata (Kesteven)

Cutler, Edward B., Schulze, Anja & Dean, Harlan K., 2004, Zealand species, Zootaxa 525, pp. 1-19 : 12

Themiste (Lagenopsis) dehamata (Kesteven)

Dendrostoma dehamatum Kesteven, 1903: 69 –73.

Type locality: Port Jackson, New South Wales, 1– 2 m.

Remarks: Seventeen worms are assigned to this species, having trunks 10–80 mm long and neither introvert hooks nor pigment around the collar region just behind the tentacles. Several have a reddish tint and some exhibit a reticulate or annulate pattern of fine wrinkles in the thick skin. The digitiform contractile vessel villi were not well preserved or underdeveloped in a few specimens. The strong pair of introvert retractors originate near the middle of the trunk.

Worms collected in December (Stn T524) had mature eggs in their body cavity.

Distribution: New South Wales and southern Australia, in intertidal unconsolidated sediments. Unpublished records of 12 specimens from 10–40 m mud/shell/gravel habitats in Omaha Bay, New Zealand (R. Taylor, pers.comm.) supplement these from 16–110 m to confirm its presence around New Zealand.