Tasmanopeltis grandis Mesibov 2005, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Mesibov, Robert
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Polydesmida
Dalodesmidae
Tasmanopeltis
Tasmanopeltis grandis

description: Tasmanopeltis grandis sp. nov.
Figures 5B, 67, 68, 69 gra, 70gra, 71gra, 75 (map)
Lissodesmus sp. NE1.— Mesibov, 1994: 134.— Mesibov, 1996:
17.— Mesibov, 1997: 567.— Mesibov, 1998: 155.
Material examined. Holotype. Male, Australia, Tasmania. Speck Creek, EQ557542 (41°03'41''S 147°39'46''E), 330 m, 18.iii.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:15555.
Paratypes. Male, Tin Hut Creek, EQ930505 (41°05'28''S 148°06'26''E), 140 m, 19.i.1989, R. Bashford, QVM 23: 40767, pitfall; male, Eagle Hill, EQ550581 (41°01'34''S 147°39’15”E), 170 m, 10.iii.1993, R. Mesibov, AM KS91186 (ex QVM 23:15567); male, same details, QVM 23: 15567; female, Speck Creek, EQ558537 (41°03'57''S 147°39'50''E), 150 m, 10.iii.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23: 15598; male, Speck Creek, EQ576538 (41°03'53''S 147°41'07''E), 230 m, 10.iii.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23: 15554, dissected; male, Mt Horror, EQ604547 (41°03'23'vS 147°43'07''E), 220 m, 18.iii.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23: 15557, dissected; male, Mt Horror, EQ588513 (41°05'14''S 147°42'00''E), 200 m, 24.iv.1993, R. Mesibov, QVM 23: 15558; male, Mt Dismal area, EQ072330 (41°15'15''S 147°05'09''E), 320 m, 20.i.1995, R. Mesibov, QVM 23: 17762; male, Ben Lomond, EQ483057 (41°29'55''S 147°34'43''E), 720 m, 16.vi.1995, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:21516.
Other material. 41 males, 49 females and 90 juveniles from Ansons River, “Aplico” property, Arnon River, Back Creek, Barrow Creek, Bell Creek, Ben Lomond, Ben Nevis, Blacksnake Marsh, Brady Kayes Lookout, Branxholm, Burns Creek, Caldbeck Creek, Carneys Creek, Chinaman Corner, Constance Creek, Duncraggen Hill, Eagle Hill, Foons Hill, Friend Creek, Glennons Road, Great Forester River, Harrys Hill, Hogarth Rivulet, Ikes Creek, Jewells Creek, Joseph Creek, Kamona, Martins Hill, Monazite Creek, Morris Ridge, Mother Logans Creek, Mt Arthur, Mt Cameron, Mt Dismal, Mt Horror, Mt Stronach, Musselboro, North Esk River, Northallerton Valley, Nunamara, Ockerbys Hills, Oxberry Creek, Patersonia, Pearly Brook, Rattler Hill, Scottsdale Mine, Sideling Range, Simons Road, Speck Creek, Spurrs Rivulet, Swanee Creek, Telita, Tin Hut Creek, Traills Point, Weavers Creek, Wild Pig Hill, Williams Creek, Williams Hill and Wyena (see “ Lissodesmus supplement” for details).
Description. Male c. 32 mm long, H = 3.3 mm. In alcohol, well-coloured specimens red- to purple-brown dorsally, pale yellow-orange laterally, ventrally and on legs; at low magnification with fairly uniform red- to purple-brown colouring on metazonite, pale yellow-orange on paranotal and posterior metazonal margins, somewhat darker red- to purple brown on head and prozonites, legs darker dorsally, distal podomeres and antennae pale red. Antennae (Fig. 69 gra) moderately long, slender, separated by about 2X socket diameter, sockets not deeply impressed; antennomere 6 widest, antennomere lengths typically decreasing in order 2, 3, 6, (4,5). Head with clypeus and frons densely setose, vertex bare; vertigial sulcus extending to point about 1.5X socket diameter from line joining socket centres. Collum from above slightly wider than head, with nearly straight anterior border, steeply sloping shoulders, rounded posterior corners, slightly convex posterior margin with emarginate centre; posterior corner setae present and a few long setae in transverse line behind anterior margin and centrally; collum corners slightly ventral to paranotal margin of segment 2. Paranota (Fig. 70 gra) increasing in width from segment 2 to 5, fairly uniform in width posteriorly to segment 16, narrowing thereafter; paranota wide, R = 1.8 on segment 12; lateral margins more convex and posterior corners more produced posteriorly, on most segments the paranota widest anteriorly; lateral margins with 3-4 notches, typically each with short seta, the most anterior notch with longest seta, sometimes as long as posterior corner seta, the latter arising on most segments on mesal side of projecting posterior corner, close to base of latter; the margins straight in lateral view but inclined upwards posteriorly at c. 15° to horizontal. Segment surfaces smooth, metatergites bare apart from short, sparse setae in 2–3 transverse rows anteriorly. Pore formula 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15–19; ozopore opening dorsolaterally on paranotum at about three-quarters the distance from anterior to posterior paranotal margins, close to lateral margin. Spiracles (Fig. 5B) enlarged, on diplosegments the posterior spiracle almost touching anterior spiracle over anterior leg, rims very thin, projecting, all spiracles with dense mass of emergent hair-like structures. Sternite tetrads longer than wide, transverse furrow deep, longitudinal furrow less deep. Legs (Fig. 71 gra) variably swollen from segment 3 posteriorly, mostly with strongly arched prefemur, slightly arched femur, slight ventral distal swellings on postfemur and tibia; tarsus slightly curved; podomere lengths decreasing in order tarsus, femur, prefemur, (postfemur, tibia); dense “brush” setae on prefemur, femur, postfemur; sphaerotrichomes on all five podomeres on legs near gonopods; leg 2 coxa with genital opening on mesodistal swelling, only slightly raised above coxal surface; paired coxae of legs 6 and 7 well separated, slightly separated on legs 5, not separated on legs 4. Gonopod aperture about one-third as wide as segment 7 prozonite, more or less rectangular (wider than long) with rounded corners in ventral view, in lateral view with lateral margin strongly produced posteriorly. Gonopod coxae entirely contained within aperture, fairly small, more or less ellipsoid, lightly joined along midline distally, with dense, short setae on ventromesal surface distally; cannulae prominent. Telopodites (Figs 67, 68) separate, straight, lightly setose posteriorly from base to level of solenomere origin, reaching leg 5 when retracted. Solenomere arising from anteromesal surface of telopodite at almost two-thirds the telopodite height, directed posterodistally at somewhat less than 45° to telopodite axis, curving very slightly laterally, tapering gradually, tip curving distally, no subapical projection or similar structure, terminating at about four-fifths the telopodite height (about two-thirds the prefemoral process height). Tibiotarsus arising a little posterior and distal to solenomere and more or less parallel to it, rod-like, bluntly pointed, about one-third the solenomere length. Femoral process arising just proximal to solenomere origin on anterolateral surface, mesolaterally flattened, pressed close near origin to prefemoral process, widening distally with truncate, sinuous, inconspicuously toothed distal edge, terminating at just over half the prefemoral process height (proximal to solenomere tip). Prefemoral process at origin about half as wide as telopodite base, widening distally and dividing at about half its height into well-separated lateral and mesal branches; lateral branch curving posteriorly with a comb of 10–15 long, straight, mainly posterobasally directed teeth on mesal edge; mesal branch one-third to one-half the height of lateral branch (terminating just distal to solenomere tip), bluntly pointed with mesal surface armed with 3–4 short, blunt, posterodistally directed teeth. Uncus a large posterior extension of mesal edge of prefemoral process just proximal to solenomere tip, widely notched on outer edge. Hypoproct paraboloid in outline; preanal ring with numerous long setae; epiproct projecting well past anal valves, in dorsal outline triangular with truncated apex. Female slightly larger than male, c. 35 mm long, legs thinner, otherwise with same coloration, paranotal form and spiracle features. Posterior rim of epigynal opening strongly produced, with rounded corners and elevated central portion; cyphopods not examined.
Distribution and habitat. In dry and wet eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforest over c. 3500 km 2 in north-east Tasmania (Fig. 75), from Mt Dismal in the Tamar Valley east to Ansons River, from Gladstone south to Ben Lomond, and from near sea level to 920 m. The western range boundary of T. grandis lies within the biogeographical divide known as the East Tamar Break (Mesibov, 1994), and is particularly sharp near Weavers Creek (Mesibov, 1997). Adults of T. grandis are generally found in or under rotting logs and only rarely burrow into the soil.
Etymology. Latin grandis (“large, magnificent”), adjective.
Remarks. Although T. grandis is the largest polydesmidan in Tasmania, it is remarkably cryptic in its habits, and the first known museum specimen was collected less than 20 years ago (on Mt Arthur in 1987).
description: Published as part of Mesibov, Robert, 2005, The millipede genus Lissodesmus Chamberlin, 1920 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania and Victoria, with descriptions of a new genus and 24 new species, pp. 103-146 in Memoirs of Museum Victoria 62 (2) on pages 124-125, DOI: 10.24199/j.mmv.2005.62.4, http://zenodo.org/record/8064747