Labraxeudes Błażewicz-Paszkowycz & Bamber, 2007

Błażewicz-Paszkowycz, M. & Bamber, R. N., 2012, The Shallow-water Tanaidacea (Arthropoda: Malacostraca: Peracarida) of the Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia (other than the Tanaidae), Memoirs of Museum Victoria 69, pp. 1-235 : 38-40

Genus Labraxeudes Błażewicz-Paszkowycz & Bamber, 2007

Labraxeudes heliodiscus Błażewicz-Paszkowycz & Bamber, 2007

Figure 26

L. heliodiscus Błażewicz-Paszkowycz & Bamber, 2007b , 136–141, figs 17–19.

Material examined. 6 (3 brooding, 3 with oostegites), 3 juveniles (J55848), Stn WBES 1746 , Western Port, 38º29.78'S 145º06.28'E, sand, 24 m depth, 25 November 1974 , Smith-McIntyre Grab ; 14 (6 with oostegites, 5 brooding), 2 juveniles (J56346), Stn CRUST 21 , Whaleback Rock, 0.5 km south of Point Hicks, 37º48.30'S 149º16.48'E, ca 30 m depth ; 22 (5 brooding, 15 with oostegites) (J57612), Stn CPBS 33 S, Crib Point, Western Port, 38º22.04'S 145º14.06'E, “reef/ sponge”, 13 m depth, 5 March 1965 ; 7 (1 brooding,3 with oostegites) (J57679), Stn CPBS 23 N, Crib Point, Western Port, 38º20.17'S 145º14.11'E, sandy gravel, 10 m depth, 10 March 1965 .

Remarks. the types (four females) of this species were described from a sample off Phillip Island, at the mouth of Western Port. Examination of the further material listed above has allowed description of some ontogenic variation, and the correction of some misinterpretations of the type material.

Contrary to the type description, all setae on the cephalothorax, pereonites, pleonites and pleotelson are plumose. The pleotelson has a rounded posterior protuberance bearing plumose setae ( Fig. 26F).

The uropods of the figured type now appear to be from a damaged specimen: large-adult uropods ( Fig. 26F) have 7 segments in the endopod and 5 segments in the exopod. The juveniles (post-manca) have shorter uropods ( Fig. 26D), but already 7 articles in the endopod and 4 in the exopod, as do brooding females with a simple cheliped ( Fig. 26E); the juveniles also have a simpler, semicircular rostrum ( Fig. 26C). The chelipeds show progressive development: those of juveniles ( Fig. 26A) are simple, smaller versions of those of the smaller brooding females ( Fig. 26B): these have a basis twice as long as wide, with one proximal and two distal ventral setae and a mid-ventral spine; exopodite as in the type; merus with mesial and subdistal setae and two ventrodistal spines; carpus 2.25 times as long as wide, with paired proximodorsal setae and three ventral setae; chela palm 1.4 times as long as wide, fixed finger with three ventral setae, dactylus with no tooth-like apophysis on the cutting edge. The larger specimens have the cheliped as shown for the type ( Błażewicz-Paszkowycz & Bamber, 2007b, fig. 19A), showing a dimorphism suggestive of a male, yet these specimens also have oostegites, and no penial tubercle was found on any specimen. This may imply progynous, or later simultaneous, hermaphroditism in this species, but until a specimen with a penial tubercle is discovered, no conclusion can be drawn about this.

All the known material of this species was collected in Western Port except for the specimens from off Point Hicks, at depths from between 10 and 30 m and on a range of substrata.