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

description: <i>Tasmaniosoma australe</i> sp. n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 2F05F087-0398-4F19-AFCD-9744B838E2B2 Figs 3D, 6C, 6D, 9; map Fig. 24 <b>Holotype.</b> Male, Australia, Tasmania, Lake Osborne Track, 43°13'04"S 146°46'03"E (DN 810148) ± 100 m, 880 m, 7 February 2004, K. Bonham, QVM 23:46574. <b>Paratypes.</b> 3 males, 2 females, details as for holotype but 43°13'07"S 146°45'58"E (DN 809147) ± 100 m, 900 m, 13 February 2004, QVM 23:46575. <b>Other material examined.</b> 4 males and 2 females from 4 other localities (see Appendix). <b>Diagnosis.</b> Metatergites without tubercles, small rounded teeth posterolaterally on paranota, male leg 6 with triangular extension basally on prefemur, solenomere the longest telopodite process, with broad and flattened tip produced as three tooth-like or tab-like extensions. <b>Description.</b> Male/female approximate measurements: length 18/ 18 mm, ring 12 paranota width 2.2/ 2.2 mm. Live colour not known; in alcohol, body fairly uniform light to medium brown. Most non-gonopod details as for <i>T. armatum</i>, but antennomere 3 longest, relative widths tergite 6&gt;5&gt;4&gt;2&gt;head&gt;3&gt;collum, ring 12 paranota 1.3 × as wide as prozonite, posterior corners of most paranota produced as very small, rounded tooth, leg 6 tarsus 1.4 × as long as femur and femur longer than prefemur. From ca ring 8 posteriorly, sternites with small, blunt projection at each corner, i.e. just posterior to each of four leg bases. Ring 2 pit deep with well-defined semicircular rim, convex laterally. Ring 6 sternite with sparse fine setae near anterior margin; leg 6 tab barely detectable, with a few fine setae; leg 6 prefemur with rounded triangular extension posteriorly (Figs 6C, 6D); leg 7 tab very long (ca 1/2–2/3 length of leg 7 coxa), extending laterad of leg 6 prefemoral swelling, with sparse brush of fine setae basally on anteromedial surface; leg 7 coxa swollen distomedially, the swelling lying posterior to the leg 7 tab. Gonopod telopodite (Fig. 9) straight, tapering distally, divided into four processes at between 2/3 and 3/4 telopodite height. Undivided portion with posterior surface roundly ridged longitudinally, base laterally extended as rounded protuberance. Processes comprise: (a) short, rod-like, round-tipped anterolateral process bent slightly outwards; (b) short, somewhat flattened posterior process with a rounded-truncate tip bent slightly posteromedially; (c) large solenomere, cylindrical basally, flattening at ca 1/2 process height, curving medially and terminating in rounded tooth apically, with posterior tab carrying opening of prostatic groove and finger-like posterobasal extension; (d) large, rod-like, apically acute process arising just anteromedial to solenomere base and reaching nearly as far distally, slightly bent posterolaterally. Tracts of fine setae posteriorly on either side of the longitudinal telopodite ridge, and on anterolateral surface to ca 1/2 telopodite height. Prostatic groove running distally on medial surface of telopodite to level of division into processes, then running posterolaterally to enter solenomere base. Female with leg 2 prefemur long and with large swelling distally on posterior surface; rings 2 and 3 ventrally with small, peg-like projection just lateral to epigynum (Fig. 3D). Sternite projections as in male but generally smaller, not as consistently expressed. <b>Distribution.</b> Known from wet eucalypt forest and subalpine scrub to 1240 m elevation in south central Tasmania, extending in a ca 80 km-long line from northwest of Maydena to northwest of Southport (Fig. 24). Possibly parapatric with <i>T. aureorivum</i> sp. n. in the north of its range and with <i>T. warra</i> sp. n. in the south; not yet known to co-occur with either species. <b>Etymology.</b> Latin <i>australis</i>, “southern”, adjective, for the southern distribution of this species. <b>Remarks.</b> Females of <i>T. australe</i> are readily distinguished from females of <i>T. aureorivum</i> sp. n. and <i>T. warra</i> sp. n. by their leg 2 prefemoral swellings. A female from Hastings Caves (in QVM 23:46570) has the posterior margin of the epigynum produced not as a low triangle with rounded apex, but as an oblong with rounded corners.
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 44-46, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.41.420, http://zenodo.org/record/576649