Atalopharetra eberhardi Mesibov, 2005, n. sp.
Creators: name: Mesibov, Robert
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Polydesmida
Dalodesmidae
Atalopharetra
Atalopharetra eberhardi

description: Atalopharetra eberhardi n. sp.
Figs. 1 C, 2C, 3D, 3H, 12, 13, 14; map Fig. 15
Holotype: Male, Quetzalcoatl Conduit (cave PB­3), Precipitous Bluff, Tasmania, approx. 43°30’S 146°35’E, 29.iii.1986, S. Eberhard, on riparian mudbanks, field code PB3­8, QVM 23:45950.
Paratypes: 2 males, 6 females, same details as holotype, QVM 23:12620; 1 female, Cueva Blanca (cave PB­4), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°35’E, 18.xii.1988, S. Eberhard, field code PB4­3, QVM 23:12624; 1 female, same details but A. Clarke, moist wall of Inundation Passage, below 30 m pitch, 1.5 m above stream, field code 1288­24, QVM 23:41688; 1 female, Damper Cave (cave PB­1), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°35’E, 22.xii.1988, S. Eberhard, field code PB1­4, QVM 23:12622; 1 female, Bauhaus (cave PB­6), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°36’E, 24.xii.1988, S. Eberhard, field code PB6­18, anterior segments missing, QVM 23:12319; 1 female, same details, field code PB6­2, QVM 23:12623; 1 stadium IV female, same details but A. Clarke, moist wall 15 cm above streamway, 120 m from surface, field code 1288­118, QVM 23:41699; 1 female, Damper Cave (PB­1), 26.xii.1988, A. Clarke, moist wall in Honey & Cream Passage near junction with Hydrobiid Highway, field code 1288­141, QVM 23:41700; 1 male, 1 female, Xymox (cave PB­7), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°36’E, 7.i.1990, S. Eberhard, on wet cave wall near dripping water, field code PB7­2, AM KS91436 (formerly QVM 23:12317).
Diagnosis: No pigmentation; paranota wide with continuous row of prominent marginal teeth and prominent dorsal tubercles; telopodite with two large, broad, laminar, wellseparated distal processes arising anteriorly and posterolaterally; no limbus.
Description: Male ca. 18 mm long; segment 12 height ca. 1.0 mm, width ca. 1.7 mm. Body colour in alcohol white. Cuticle not brittle; no detectable odour of defensive secretion in alcohol­preserved specimens. Head almost flat in front, sparsely setose with longer setae on vertex; antennae (Fig. 3 D) slender, fairly short, separated by about 2.5 times a socket diameter, sockets well impressed ventrally and laterally; antennomere 6 the widest, antennomeres 2, 3 and 6 roughly equal in length, 4 and 5 shorter. Collum slightly narrower than head, subquadrangular in dorsal view, with posterior corner projecting as tooth armed with two stout setae and with two similarly armed posterior marginal teeth; dorsally with long anterior marginal setae and a transverse mid­length row of sparse setae, all setae arising from small, prominent tubercles. Segment 2 slightly wider than collum, segments 3–6 increasingly but only slightly wider than 2, segments 7–18 more or less equal in width. Paranota on segments 2–18 wide, slightly concave upwards, in lateral view rising from anterior to posterior, the margin of segment 2 slightly higher than collum corner and lower than segment 3 margin; with paranotal margins projecting anteriorly and with continuous marginal row of up to 9 prominent teeth ending in large, tooth­like corner projection (Fig. 1 C), with 2 prominent posterior marginal teeth on segments 2–5 and one on segments 6– 18, and with all but anterior marginal teeth armed with stout seta. Posterolateral portion of paranotal surface on most segments with 4 prominent tubercles each armed with stout seta (Fig. 12). Limbus lacking (Figs. 2 C, 12). Ozopore opening dorsally near posterior corner of paranotum (Fig. 12). Preanal ring sparsely setose; epiproct with rounded tip, extending well past anal valves; hypoproct trapezoidal. Spiracles small, on diplosegments with anterior spiracle above anterior leg and posterior spiracle above and slightly anterior to posterior leg; spiracle interior not protruding (spiracles visible in Fig. 2 C). Sternites (Fig. 2 C) longer than wide, anterior leg bases not as well separated from posterior leg bases as in A. clarkei. Anterior legs not swollen, all legs slender; tarsus about as long as femur and both podomeres much longer than prefemur, postfemur or tibia; claw long and slender; anterior legs lacking both “brush” setae and sphaerotrichomes. Leg 2 coxa with inconspicuous gonopore on almost unmodified coxa. Leg 7 bases close together. Gonopod aperture narrowly ovoid, about three­quarters the width of segment 7 prozonite, rim very slightly extended. Gonopod coxae tapering distally, lightly joined mediodistally, medial apical extension small, cannula prominent. Telopodites (Figs. 13, 14) small, largely contained within aperture. Telopodite base broad, sparsely and coarsely setose on posterior surface, giving rise at about one­third the telopodite height to 2 laminar, hood­like processes; anterior process tapering distally and bent posteriorly near apex; posterior process arising from lateral surface of telopodite, curving medially and slightly anteriorly, broadly truncate distally with small, finger­like extension near base on posteromedial edge. Solenomere cylindrical with obliquely truncate tip, arising on anteromedial surface of telopodite near base, extending distally before bending laterally, crossing top of telopodite base and again turning distally to stand freely in centre of space contained by hood­like processes, terminating at about two­thirds the telopodite height. Male and female equal in size and almost identical in overall appearance; posterior rim of epigynum elevated medially as broad, rounded projection well separated from segment 2 leg bases; cyphopods not examined.
Distribution and habitat: Known only from caves near Precipitous Bluff in far southern Tasmania (Fig. 15).
Etymology: In honour of Stefan Eberhard, who pioneered the systematic sampling of the cave fauna of Tasmania.
description: Published as part of Mesibov, Robert, 2005, (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania, Australia, pp. 21-42 in Zootaxa 1034 on pages 34-37, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.169707