Typhlotanais herthio Błażewicz-Paszkowycz & Bamber, 2012, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Błażewicz-Paszkowycz, M.
name: Bamber, R. N.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Tanaidacea
Typhlotanaidae
Typhlotanais
Typhlotanais herthio

description: Typhlotanais herthio sp. nov.   
Figures 108–110  
 Material examined. 1 (J58514), holotype, Eastern Bass Strait, 60 km E of North Point, Flinders Island, Stn BSS 32, 39º41.7'S 148º39.5'E, 115 m depth, muddy sand, 27 March 1979; coll. G.C.B. Poore; 45 and neuters (J58515), paratypes, Central Bass Strait, 32 km SE of Cape Otway, Stn BSS 48 DN, 39º01'S 143º49'E, 81 m depth, coarse sand, 07 October 1980; coll. G.C.B. Poore; 41 and neuters (J58518), paratypes, Central Bass Strait, 66 km S of Rodondo Island, Stn BSS 158 S, 39º48.6'S 146º18.8'E, 82 m depth, sand with silt and mud, 13 November 1981; coll. R. S. Wilson.   
 Description of female. Body (Fig. 108A, B) slender, holotype 2.7 mm long, 6.4 times as long as wide. Cephalothorax subrectangular, tapering towards anterior with slight triangular rostrum, 1.2 times as long as wide, about as long as pereonites 1 and 2 together, naked, eyes absent. Pereonite margins parallel, pereonite 1 shortest, 0.4 times as long as cephalothorax; pereonites 2 to 5 subequal, 0.8 times as long as cephalothorax, pereonite 6 shorter, 0.6 times as long as pereonite 5 (all pereonites respectively 2.4, 1.4, 1.4, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.7 times as wide as long). Pleon with five free subequal pleonites bearing pleopods; each pleonite 5.8 times as wide as long. Pleotelson pentangular, one-third length of pleon and twice as wide as long, with four small distal setae (Fig. 110I).   
Antennule (Fig. 109A) of three articles, proximal article 5.2 times as long as wide, 1.8 times as long as distal two articles together, with row of three strong inner-dorsal setae, outer margin with tufts of one simple and two or three penicillate setae at mid-length and distally; second article nearly twice as long as wide, 0.4 times as long as third article, with single inner distal penicillate and longer simple setae; third article tapering, 0.4 times as long as first article, with five simple and one penicillate distal setae.  
Antenna (Fig. 109B) of six articles, proximal article compact, naked; second article stout, as long as wide, with dorsodistal seta longer than article; third article shorter than wide, with fine dorsodistal seta; fourth article longest, ten times as long as wide, curved, with one simple and one penicillate distal setae; fifth article one-quarter as long as fourth with one distal seta; sixth article minute with four distal setae.  
Labrum (Fig. 109C) rounded, hood-shaped, distally setose. Left mandible (Fig. 109D) with subtriangular pars incisiva and wide, crenulate lacinia mobilis, right mandible (Fig. 109E) without lacinia mobilis; pars molaris of both mandibles with strong, rounded tooth-like protrusions around distal margin. Labium (Fig. 109H) simple, finely setose on outer margins. Maxillule (Fig. 109F) with eight distal spines, palp (Fig. 109 F') with two distal setae. Maxilla (Fig. 109G) ovoid, naked. Maxilliped palp (Fig. 109I) first article naked, second article with one outer and three inner setae, distal of these finely denticulate in distal half; third article with four inner setae in distal half of article, two of these finely denticulate in distal half; fourth article with five inner to distal setae, four of these finely denticulate in distal half, and one outer subdistal seta; basis with single, long seta reaching distal margin of endites; endites distally with two setae and two slight tubercles, outer distal margin slightly denticulate. Epignath (Fig. 109J) elongate, linguiform, naked.  
Cheliped(Fig.110A)with rounded basis reaching pereonite 1 ventrally, 1.2 times as long as wide, with single dorsodistal seta; merus subtriangular with single ventral seta; carpus elongate, three times as long as wide, with two midventral setae of markedly unequal length, one fine ventrodistal seta, and row of eight setae along dorsal margin; propodus slender, curved, twice as long as wide, fixed finger 0.73 times as long as palm, with two ventral setae, three setae on cutting edge; dactylus with fine proximal seta.  
Pereopod 1 (Fig. 110B) longer than others, coxal apophysis large, triangular, pointed, with seta; basis arcuate, slender, nearly six times as long as wide, with six simple setae along dorsal margin; ischium compact, with ventral seta two-thirds as long as merus; merus 0.4 times as long as basis, with three simple distal setae; carpus just shorter than merus with distal crown of eight simple setae; propodus 1.5 times as long as carpus, with three dorsal subdistal setae, longer ventral subdistal seta; short, stout dactylus with proximal seta longer than dactylus, slender unguis 2.6 times as long as dactylus, both together 0.9 times as long as propodus. Pereopod 2 (Fig. 110C), coxa similar to that of pereopod 1, basis 3.3 times as long as wide, with midventral seta and eight setae along dorsal margin; ischium with seta only half as long as merus; merus 0.25 times as long as basis, with single dorsal and two ventral distal simple setae, and dense field of microtrichia across ventral and ventrolateral surfaces in distal two-thirds; carpus 1.4 times as long as merus, with distal crown of eight setae and dense field of microtrichia across ventral and ventrolateral surfaces in distal two-thirds; propodus 1.6 times as long as carpus, with two dorsal subdistal setae, longer ventral subdistal seta, and fields of microtrichia; short, stout dactylus with proximal seta longer than dactylus, slender unguis longer than dactylus, both together 0.4 times as long as propodus. Pereopod 3 compact (Fig. 110D), similar to pereopod 2, basis with six dorsal marginal setae; merus with three ventrodistal setae.  
 Pereopod 4 (Fig. 110E) basis stout, 2.1 times as long as wide, with simple mid-dorsal seta and two penicillate setae near ventrodistal corner; ischium with two ventrodistal setae; merus 0.8 times as long as carpus, with field of microtrichia across ventral and ventrolateral surfaces in distal two-thirds, and two small ventrodistal spines; carpus with robust distal molar spine, two simple mid-dorsal and one dorsodistal setae, and “prickly tubercle” (sensu Błażewicz-Paszkowycz, 2007) surrounded by minute spines in ventrodistal half; propodus 1.5 times as long as carpus, with fields of microtrichia, mid-dorsal penicillate seta, strong dorsodistal seta, and two ventrodistal dentiform spines; dactylus slender, with fields of microtrichia, three times as long as curved unguis, both together longer than propodus. Pereopod 5 (Fig. 110F) as pereopod 4, but carpus with mid-dorsal and dorsodistal spines. Pereopod 6 (Fig. 110G) as pereopod 5, but basis without penicillate setae, propodus with three dorsodistal setae.   
Pleopods (Fig. 110H) all alike, with naked basis, exopod shorter than endopod; endopod and exopod without setae on inner margin, outer margins with respectively 15 and 21 plumose setae, proximal seta on both rami separated from others.  
Uropod (Fig. 110I) biramous, basis naked; exopod and endopod of one segment, exopod shorter than endopod, with one fine proximal, one slender and one stouter distal setae; endopod with four slender, one stouter and one penicillate distal setae.  
 Male. Unknown.   
 Etymology. From the Anglo-Saxon haer – hairy, and thioh – the thigh, alluding to the density of dorsal marginal setae on the bases of the anterior pereopods, which distinguish this species most evidently from the other species of the greenwichensis - group of Typhlotanais sensu lato; noun in apposition   
 Remarks. With the pronounced coxal spurs on the anterior pereopods, the curving carpus-propodus and the dorsal marginal spines on the carpus of the cheliped, and the prickly tubercles on the posterior carpi, this species fits into the “ greenwichensis -group” of Błażewicz-Paszkowycz (2007). The two described species of this group are T. greenwichensis Shiino, 1970, from the Antarctic-Subantarctic, and T. messinensis Sars, 1882 from the Mediterranean.   
 Typhlotanais greenwichensis differs from T. herthio sp. nov. in being more elongate (nearly seven times as long as wide), with a less-slender proximal article to the antennule (four times as long as wide), and, most obviously, has only a few dorsal marginal setae on the pereopods 1 to 3 (4, 4 and 3 respectively). T. messinensis is quite distinct in having a more compact proximal peduncle article to the antennule (three times as long as wide), and two-segmented rami on the uropods.   
 Typhlotanais herthio was collected sporadically through the Bass Strait, from sandy substrata at depths between 81 and 115 m.
description: Published as part of Błażewicz-Paszkowycz, M. & Bamber, R. N., 2012, The Shallow-water Tanaidacea (Arthropoda: Malacostraca: Peracarida) of the Bass Strait, Victoria, Australia (other than the Tanaidae), pp. 1-235 in Memoirs of Museum Victoria 69 on pages 162-166