Callipallene novaezealandiae ( Thomson 1884 )

Arango, Claudia P., 2009, New species and new records of sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from deep waters in Western Australia, Zootaxa 1977, pp. 1-20 : 12

Callipallene novaezealandiae ( Thomson 1884)

Callipallene brevirostris ssp. novaezealandiae — Stock 1954: 48, fig.21

Material examined: WAM T92362, 1 female. 9 December 2005, Ningaloo Reef South, Western Australia, CSIRO station 141-142, collected with beam trawl from 22.0743°S 113.8140°E to 22.0784°S 113.8130E, soft bottom, 102 m.

Remarks: This long-legged and slender specimen is assigned to C. novaezealandiae mostly based on the configuration of the propodus, especially the auxiliaries being longer than half the length of the main claw, and the shape of proboscis and chelae fingers with 8–10 denticulations on each finger. This female specimen has a low ocular tubercle and a crop not forming a gradual transition to the long neck, different from the specimens in Stock (1954). The length of the neck is known to vary within species of Callipallene depending on gender and age, as well as other characters including segmentation of the trunk ( Stock 1952; 1954), pectination of auxiliary claws ( Arnaud & Child 1988), and other characters, making species recognition a difficult task. Callipallene novaezealandiae is known for its wide Indo-Pacific distribution, from its type locality in Otago ( Thomson 1884) and other locations in New Zealand ( Child 1998), to the Pacific Islands, the Great Barrier Reef (see Arango 2003), East Africa and Japan (see Nakamura & Child 1991). This is the first report of C. novaezealandiae from Western Australian waters.