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

description: <i>Tasmaniosoma alces</i> sp. n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 10C7B840-CBC0-45C1-89FF-67A67B1A7296 Figs 6F, 6G, 7B; map Fig. 24 <b>Holotype.</b> Male, Australia, Tasmania, NW of Triabunna, 42°27'50"S 147°54'56"E ± 25 m, 100 m, 25 August 2009, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:51552. <b>Paratypes.</b> 3 males, Salmons Creek, Tas, 42°28'57"S 147°50'54"E (EN 696961) ± 100 m, 150 m, 17 April 1991, R. Mesibov, QVM 23:46762. <b>Other material.</b> None known. <b>Diagnosis.</b> Metatergites without tubercles; ring 6 sternite with discrete setal brushes on anterior margin; gonopod telopodite with stout, rod-like setae in longitudinal tract on posteromedial surface and large, fishtail-shaped process arising at about 3/4 telopodite height and directed laterally. <b>Description.</b> Male ca 16 mm long; ring 12 paranota width ca 1.5 mm. Live colour as for <i>T. armatum</i>; in alcohol, decoloured with traces of reddish pigmentation distally on legs, antennae and paranota. Most non-gonopodal details as for <i>T. armatum</i>, but relative widths tergite 6&gt;5&gt;head&gt;(3,2)&gt;collum; ring 12 paranota 1.3 × as wide as prozonite; leg 6 with prefemur unusually swollen, i.e. more so than leg 5 or 7 (Figs 6F, 6G); relative podomere lengths tarsus&gt;prefemur&gt;femur&gt;(postfemur, tibia); leg 6 tarsus 1.7 × as long as femur. Ring 6 sternite with legs 6 a little closer together than legs 7; leg 6 tab short, without setae; leg 7 tab long, thin, with rounded knob anterodistally bearing numerous fine setae pointed in all directions; anterior margin of sternite medially with brush of fine setae on low protuberance, i.e. as in <i>T. armatum</i> but without evident separation into paired conjoined brushes. Gonopod telopodite similar to that of <i>T. armatum</i>, but process 2 topologically replaced by flat, broadly round-tipped tab curving anteromedially and closely applied to anterior surface of laminate process; the latter broadly round-edged, without hook-like posterior extension. Solenomere flattened mediolaterally and bifid; distal branch bearing the end of the prostatic groove, acute, curving medially; basal branch acute. Process 4 bent posteriorly at ca 45° angle. In addition, large, fishtail-shaped process arising posterolaterally at ca 3/4 telopodite height and directed laterally, the concave outer edge variably toothed. Posteromedial row of short, stout setae from ca 1/3 to 2/3 telopodite height, frequently broken off. Longitudinal lateral setal row with 4–8 setae. Female not yet recognised. <b>Distribution.</b> Known from two sites ca 6 km apart in dry eucalypt forest northwest of Triabunna on the east coast of Tasmania (Fig. 24). Possibly sympatric with <i>T. armatum</i>, which has been found ca 2 km from one of the <i>T. alces</i> sites. <b>Etymology.</b> Latin <i>alces</i>, “elk”, noun in apposition. Th e gonopods in situ remind me of the head of a male elk with antlers.
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 40-42, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.41.420, http://zenodo.org/record/576649
description: {"references": ["Verhoeff KW (1936) Die Sphaerotrichopidae der sudlichen Halbkugel und ihre Beziehungen. Zoologischer Anzeiger 114 (1 / 2): 1 - 14."]}