Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973 Ledoyer, 1986: 819 Ren, 1998: 245 Maxillipiidae * Coleman, Charles Oliver Zootaxa 2009 2009-10-08 2260 1 703 707 3YGZ7 Ledoyer, 1973 Ledoyer 1973 [150,603,290,316] Malacostraca Maxillipiidae Maxillipius Animalia Amphipoda 1 704 Arthropoda species rectitelson  ( Figs 1, 2)     Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973, 32, figs 4–5. —  Ledoyer, 1986: 819, fig. 320. —  Ren, 1998: 245, figs 1, 2.   Material examined.Female with oostegites, 1.9 mm, AMP71147 (QLD 1707);  1 femalewith oostegites AMP 75545 (QLD 1980);  5 females AMP75546 (QLD 1939).    Typelocality. Eastof Nosy-Bé, north-west of Madagascar(~ 23°36'S 47°36'E).   Description.Based on female, 1.9 mm, AM P71147.  Head. Headbulky, anterior margin weakly sinuous; rostrum short, blunt. Eyeslarge, irregularly shaped. Upper lipentire. Mandiblemultidentate, molar triturative; palp not developed. Lower lipwith inner lobes. Maxilla 1inner plate without any setae; medial robust seta of outer plate stouter and longer than remaining setae, directed medially; palp uniarticulate, distally expanded, with 4 apical robust setae, separated by 3 teeth. Maxilla 2inner lobe less than half width of outer lobe. Maxillipedpalp article 2 medially strongly expanded and almost reaching distal margin of article 3, which is folded against the distal margin of article 2.  Pereon. Pereonites1–6 short, 7 longest, mid-dorsally elevated over pleonite 1. Coxa 1not visible (vestigial?). Coxae 2–7short, wider than long, ventrally weakly excavate (except for coxa 7, which is ventrally rounded). Gnathopod 1carpus distally expanded, not produced; dactylus slender. Gnathopod 2coxa anteriorly rounded, not produced, carpus not much wider than propodus; propodus slender with no palm. Pereopods 3 and 4similar. Pereopod 6apical articles extremely elongate.  Pleon. Pleonites1–2 with mid-dorsal, narrow, posteriorly directed tooth and dorsolateral tooth on both sides. Pleonite 3with short mid-dorsal tooth only. Epimera1–2 with acute posteroventral corner. Epimeron 3angular.  Telsonentire, 2 x wider than long, with a few small marginal notches with microtrichs.  Habitat.Found among  Halimedaand other algae, sediment. Maxillipiids are known to be associates of Gorgonacea ( Lowry 1984; Thomas 1996).   Remarks.There are two species of  Maxillipius,  M. commensalis Lowry, 1984and  M. rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973.  Maxillipius commensalisdiffers from the latter by the anteriorly drawn out and pointed coxa 2 and the elongated carpus and propodus of gnathopod 1.  Maxillipius rectitelsonis known from Madagascar( Ledoyer 1973, 1986) and the South ChinaSea ( Ren 1998) and despite the wide distribution the animals from Madagascarand Chinadiffer only very little from the Australian material. In Ledoyer's specimens from Madagascar, the dorsal processes differ from those of present material, in that the mid-dorsal posterior process is rather short, on pleonite 1, there are 2 dorsal processes and the dorsolateral teeth are absent. Also, on pleonite 2 only one mid-dorsal tooth is present. In addition, in the Madagascarmaterial the maxilla 2 plates are subequal in width, whereas in present material the inner lobe is less than half the width of the outer lobe. The Chinese specimen, described by Ren (1998)has the carpus of gnathopod 1 slightly longer in relation to its width.   Distribution.  Australia. Queensland: Lizard Island (current study).  Madagascar.Nosy-Be ( Ledoyer 1973, 1986). South ChinaSea. Hainan( Ren 1998). 3339821301 P 75545 AM 1 704 1 1 3339821303 P75546 [416,837,512,538] AM 1 704 5 5 3339821302 [198,1123,550,576] Madagascar -23.6 East 1255 47.6 1 704 1 holotype