Talorchestia spinipalma ( Dana, 1852 )

Serejo, Cristiana S., 2009, Talitridae *, Zootaxa 2260 (1), pp. 892-903 : 897-900

Talorchestia spinipalma ( Dana, 1852)

( Figs 3 , 4 )

Orchestia spinipalma Dana, 1852: 203 . — Dana, 1853: 875, pl. 59, fig. 4a–e. – Bate, 1862: 28, pl. 4, fig. 9. Talorchestia spinipalma . — Stebbing, 1906a: 552 (in part, part = T. terraereginae ). — Stephensen, 1935: 12. —

Schellenberg, 1938: 66. —J.L. Barnard, 1960: 24, figs 7, 8. — Bousfield, 1970: 163. — Morino & Miyamoto, 1988:

95, figs 4–6. Not Talorchestia spinipalma . — Lowry & Stoddart, 2003: 276 (= T. terraereginae ).

Material examined. Male, 12.4 mm (habitus), AM P69193 ; male, 13 mm, AM P69188 ; female, 11.3 mm, AM P69189; 37 specimens , AM P69187 ( QLD 839 ) .

Type locality. Tongatapu, Tonga (~ 21°8'0''S 175°12'0''W) .

Description. Based on male, 13 mm, AM P69188.

Head. Head eye medium, 1/5–1/3 head length. Antenna 1 short, not longer than peduncle article 4 of antenna 2. Antenna 2 more than half body length; peduncular articles narrow. Mandible left lacinia mobilis 5- dentate. Maxilliped palp article 2 with mediodistal lobe, article 4 absent.

Pereon. Gnathopod 1 sexually dimorphic, subchelate; posterior margin of carpus and propodus with rugose lobe; propodus subrectangular; palm transverse and short; dactylus longer than palm. Gnathopod 2 sexually dimorphic; subchelate; carpus indistinct; posterior margin of propodus with sparse robust setae; palm acute, with two rows of 8 robust setae and a round protuberance near dactylus hinge; dactylus slightly longer than palm and with a correspondence concavity to fit the palm protuberance. Coxae 2–4 wider than deep. Pereopods 3–7 cuspidactylate. Pereopod 4 dactylus thickened and pinched posteriorly, different from pereopod 3 dactylus. Pereopod 6 shorter than pereopod 7. Pereopod 7 distal articles slender.

Pleon. Pleopods 1–3 well developed and biramous. Epimera 1 anteroventral margin with 7 – 9 robust setae. Epimeron 2 subequal in length to epimeron 3. Epimeron 3 posterior margin smooth, posteroventral corner slightly produced, ventral margin without robust setae. Uropod 1 peduncle with two rows of 15 and 10 setae, distolateral robust seta absent; inner ramus subequal in length to outer ramus with two rows of 6-9 marginal robust setae; outer ramus without robust setae. Uropod 2 inner ramus subequal in length to outer ramus; inner ramus with two rows of 5 marginal robust setae. Uropod 3 ramus half of peduncle with marginal and apical robust setae. Telson longer than broad; apically incised; dorsal midline entire; with marginal and apical robust setae; with 10 – 12 robust setae per lobe.

Female (sexually dimorphic characters). Based on female, 13 mm, AM P69189. Gnathopod 1 simple; posterior margin of merus, carpus and propodus lacking rugose lobe. Gnathopod 2 mitten-shaped; basis expanded, about 2 x longer than wide, with several robust setae along anterior margin; posterior margin of merus and propodus with rugose lobe; dactylus shorter than palm. Oostegites 2–5 oval with few marginal setae.

Remarks. Dana (1852, 1853) described T. spinipalma based on few and unclear illustrations. Later, this species was properly illustrated by J.L. Barnard (1960) based on material from Micronesia. Bousfield (1970) recorded T. spinipalma from Rennell Island making only few comments on the females, and no illustrations. The records of T. spinipalma for Australia has been always based on Stebbing´s (1906a) synonymy, where he stated that T. terraereginae described by Haswell (1880) for Queensland was a junior synonym of T. spinipalma . In fact, the syntype series of T. terraereginae was observed and proved to be a valid species. Therefore, this is a first record of T. spinipalma for Australia based on observed material. Diagnostic characters pointed out in Table 1 for T. spinipalma were observed and illustrated based on the Australian material, which confirms its identification. Morino & Miyamoto (1988) redescribed T. spinipalma with material from Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia and compared it with the close species T. palawanensis Morino & Miyamoto, 1988 from Palawan Island, Philippines. However, with the observation of the type series of T. terraereginae it became clear that T. palawanensis is a junior synonym of the former as will be discussed in details below. Differences between these species can be found in Table 1.

Table 1. Morphological characters distinguishing T. spinipalama and T. terraereginae (modified from Morino & Miyamoto 1988).

Distribution. Australia. Queensland: Port Douglas (current study). Micronesia. (J.L. Barnard 1960). New Caledonia. Île des Pins and Nouméa ( Morino & Miyamoto 1988); Papua New Guinea. Bismarck Archipelago ( Schellenberg 1938); Motupore Island ( Morino & Miyamoto 1988). Philippine Islands. ( Schellenberg 1938). Solomon Islands. Ghizo Island ( Morino & Miyamoto 1988); Rennell Island ( Bousfield 1970). Tonga. Tongatapu ( Dana 1852).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Talorchestia spinipalma (Dana, 1852), male, 12.4 mm, AM P69193, Port Douglas, Queensland.

FIGURE 4. Talorchestia spinipalma (Dana, 1852), male, 13 mm, AM P69188; female, 11.3 mm, AM P691189; Port Douglas, Queensland.