Tasmaniosoma compitale Mesibov 2010, sp. n.
Creators: name: Mesibov, Robert
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Polydesmida
Dalodesmidae
Tasmaniosoma
Tasmaniosoma compitale

description: <i>Tasmaniosoma compitale</i> sp. n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: B431F3B4-C271-4396-8ADB-8D56E804C2E7 Figs 1C, 1G, 4A, 13; map Fig. 23 <b>Holotype.</b> Male, Australia, Tasmania, Deep Gully Creek, 41°25'02"S 145°35'43"E (CQ 825138) ± 100 m, 610 m, 13 October 1991, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:45968. <b>Paratypes.</b> 1 female, details as for holotype, QVM 23:45969; 1 male, same details but 14 October 1991, QVM 23:45970; 1 female, same details but 18 October 1991, QVM 23:45971; 1 female, same details but 24 October 1991, QVM 23:45974; 1 male, Fingerpost, Tas, 41°24'37"S 145°37'44"E (CQ 853146) ± 100 m, 610 m, 17 September 1991, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:45955; 2 females, same details, QVM 23:45956; <b>Figure |3.</b> <i>Tasmaniosoma compitale</i> sp. n. <b>A</b> Posterior view of gonopods in situ (paratype male ex QVM 23:45971) <b>B</b> medial view of right gonopod telopodite (ex QVM 23:45963, from close to type locality). Dashed line marks course of prostatic groove. Scale bar ca 0.2 mm. 1 male, same details but 18 September 1991, QVM 23:45957; 1 female, same details, QVM 23:45958; 1 female, 1 stadium VI male, same details but 23 September 1991, QVM 23:45959; 1 female, same details but 26 September 1991, QVM 23:45961. <b>Other material examined.</b> 53 males, 33 females, 3 stadium VI females and 1 stadium V female from 46 other sites (see Appendix). <b>Diagnosis.</b> Metatergites with three transverse rows of large, low, contiguous tubercles; leg 7 sternal tab with dense brush of stout, rod-like setae; gonopod telopodite with central, flattened process notched into three parts and two comparably sized combs of long, stout, rod-like setae on posterior surface, the basal comb directed basally, the distal comb distally. <b>Description.</b> Male/female approximate measurements: length 12/ 13 mm, ring 12 paranota width 1.4/ 1.6 mm. Freshly preserved specimens yellowish-brown to unaided eye, under microscope with complex pattern (Figs 1C, 1G): paired paramedian lightyellow patches on prozonite and anteriorly on metatergite, contrasting with adjoining dark brown patches; metatergite otherwise light mottled yellowish brown; rings laterally with mottled yellowish-brown and large yellowish patch (Fig. 1G, <b>p</b>) just under paranotal margin; head reddish; antennae dark brown; legs pale, reddish distally. Live specimens similarly coloured but yellow not so intense; in alcohol, long-preserved specimens completely decoloured. Most non-gonopod details as for <i>T. armatum</i>, but relative widths tergite 6&gt;5&gt;4&gt;head&gt;(3,2)&gt;collum, ring 12 paranota 1.3 × as wide as prozonite, leg 6 tarsus 1.5 × as long as femur and femur longer than prefemur. Anterior margin of metatergite smoothly curving into lateral edge of paranota (shoulder less distinct than in <i>T. armatum</i>); metatergite almost completely covered with three transverse rows of 10–12 large, low tubercles, each with small seta near posterior edge. Ring 2 pit not apparent (Fig. 4A). Ring 6 sternite with no leg 6 tab; leg 7 tab long, thickened, with brush of stout setae; small rounded process medially on leg 7 coxa just posterior to sternal tab; anterior sternite margin with two long, fine, paramedian setae. Gonopod telopodite (Fig. 13) straight, slender, slightly excavate basally on posterior surface, divided at ca 3/4 telopodite height into four processes: (a) short, slightly flattened, acute solenomere arising on medial surface and directed distally; (b) short, bladelike, acute process arising on anterolateral surface just basal to solenomere origin and directed distally and slightly anteriorly; (c) large central process, anteroposteriorly flattened, the wide distal margin divided into acute anterolateral branch and round-edged, tab-like posteromedial branch, the latter giving rise on distal edge to short, slender, tapered process directed posterodistally; (d) large, blade-like, acute process arising on lateral surface, abruptly bent and directed distally. Two dense clusters of stout, rod-like setae: 30–40 arising at ca 1/2 telopodite height on posterior surface, directed posteriorly or posterobasally; 20–30 in band running anterolaterally across posterior surface from ca 1/2 to ca 3/4 telopodite height, mainly directed distally. Sparse fine setae running from posterior surface near base anterodistally along lateral surface to ca 1/2 telopodite height. Prostatic groove running more or less directly on medial surface to base of solenomere. Female with sternites as wide as long; legs 2 usually missing (Mesibov, in preparation). <b>Distribution.</b> Sometimes locally abundant in wet eucalypt forest, cool temperate rainforest and riparian tea-tree forest over at least 3000 km 2 in northwest Tasmania, from Table Cape west to the Marrawah area, and from near sea level at Black River south to the Waratah area at 650 m elevation (Fig. 23). The <i>T. compitale</i> range is bounded on three sides by the range of <i>T. hickmanorum</i> sp. n. and the two species are tightly parapatric at some localities (Mesibov, in preparation). <i>T. compitale</i> has also been collected in plantations of <i>Pinus radiata</i> (Bonham, Mesibov and Bashford 2002; specimens coded as <i>Tasmaniosoma</i> sp. 1). <b>Etymology.</b> Latin <i>compitalis</i>, “of crossroads”, adjective. Th e types were collected near the Fingerpost, a well-known crossroads in northwest Tasmania. <b>Remarks.</b> Gonopod structure is nearly constant across the <i>T. compitale</i> range, but overall body size varies, with the largest specimens (to ca 15 mm long) occurring in coastal and near-coastal areas. The bright and complex pigmentation of <i>T. compitale</i> is lost with long storage in alcohol, and long-preserved females of <i>T. compitale</i> and <i>T. hickmanorum</i> n sp. cannot be separated. Live and freshly preserved females can be distinguished by colour: <i>T. compitale</i> yellowish-brown with a large, prominent yellowish patch just under the paranotal margin (Fig. 1G), <i>T. hickmanorum</i> reddish-brown with only a small yellowish patch under paranotal margin (Fig. 1I).
description: Published as part of <i>Mesibov, Robert, 2010, The millipede genus Tasmaniosoma Verhoeff, 1936 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania, Australia, with descriptions of 18 new species, pp. 31-80 in ZooKeys 41 (4)</i> on pages 53-56, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.41.420, http://zenodo.org/record/576649
description: {"references": ["Bonham KJ, Mesibov R, Bashford R (2002) Diversity and abundance of grounddwelling invertebrates in plantation vs. native forests in Tasmania, Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 158: 237 - 247."]}