Atelomastix danksi Edward &amp; Harvey 2010, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Edward, Karen L.
name: Harvey, Mark S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Diplopoda
Spirostreptida
Iulomorphidae
Atelomastix
Atelomastix danksi

description: <i>Atelomastix danksi</i>, sp. nov. Figs. 5, 34–47, 54, 87, 88. <b>Type material:</b> AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: holotype male, Toolbrunup Peak, Stirling Range National Park, 34°23’27”S, 118°03’31”E, hand collected in creek line, 5 April 2004, M.S. Harvey, J.M. Waldock, K.L. Edward, C. Poustie (WAM T 47957). Paratypes: 3 males, 2 females, collected with holotype (WAM T 70203); 1 male, Toolbrunup Peak, Stirling Range National Park, 34°23’29"S, 118°03’43"E, hand collected under logs, 28 July 2003, K.L. Edward (WAM T 69766). <b>Other material examined:</b> AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: 4 males, 30 females, Toolbrunup Peak, Stirling Range National Park, 34°23’29"S, 118°03’43"E, hand collected under logs, 28 July 2003, K.L. Edward (WAM T 69765, T 69767 – T 69771); 2 males, Toolbrunup Peak, Stirling Range National Park, 34°23’32"S, 118°03’32”E, wet pitfall traps, 3 August–19 December 1996, M.S. Harvey, J.M. Waldock, B.Y. Main (WAM T 47926). <b>Etymology:</b> The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Alan Danks. <b>Diagnosis:</b> <i>Atelomastix danksi</i> is similar to other <i>Atelomastix</i> species found on the eastern side of the Stirling Range, as the anterior gonopod sclerite <i>a</i> is broad and concave sub-medially enveloping an elongate pseudoflagellum beneath a broad distal hood. Live specimens are large (body width 2.27 mm) and generally have a blue-grey colouration with pale bands. However, it can be distinguished from <i>A. montana</i>, <i>A. tumula</i>, and <i>A. poustiei</i> by the lack of a medial bifurcation of sclerite <i>c</i>, the symmetrical shallow distal bifurcation of sclerite <i>c</i>, and the tip of sclerite <i>b</i> is rounded, curved sub-distally, and only slightly tapering. <i>Atelomastix tumula</i> and <i>A. poustiei</i> also possess setae on sclerite <i>b</i>, which are lacking in <i>A. danksi</i>. <b>Description:</b> <i>Male (holotype).</i> Colour: live specimens dark blue-grey with lighter bands between segments; head, collum, mouth parts, antennae, gonopods, ozopores and legs golden-brown, anal segment bluegrey, prozonites blue-grey, metazonites brown to yellow-brown in preserved specimens. Body: ca. 43 mm long and ca. 2.3 mm wide at collum. With 59 trunk segments, 104 pairs of legs, last 2 segments without legs. Head (Fig. 34, 35): with ca. 34 ocelli (Fig. 54), arranged in 4 rows (7: 8: 9: 10). Gonopods: anterior gonopods (Figs. 41–46, 87, 88) very large, heavily sclerotised and complex in structure, 2.09 times longer than broad; sclerite <i>a</i> with swollen base that forms broad, concave area where pseudoflagellum emerges, and broad, curved distal hood; sub-distal edge of concave area of sclerite <i>a</i> with 4 larger setae; upper distal face of sclerite <i>a</i> with 27 short blunt setae; pseudoflagellum long, elongate and partially concealed within broadened distal hood; sclerite <i>b</i> elongate and curved, terminating in a blunt, rounded hook, without setae; basal process of sclerite <i>b</i> large, triangular, tapering to form sharp tip, 0.39 times the length of the main process; sclerite <i>c</i> same height as sclerite <i>b</i>, not bifurcate, broad and concave medially, slightly tapering to a blunt tip, with 6–10 setae (n=6) on internal concave face; with group of 3–8 (n=6) fine setae on subbasal edge of sclerite <i>b</i> instead of single sub-basal setae where sclerites overlap; anterior gonopods inconspicuous, small, with several small setae on interno-lateral face of each gonopod. Dimensions (mm): holotype male (paratype male, WAM T69766): length ca. 43, width ca. 2.3 (L/ W=18.8; sclerite <i>a</i> 1.206 / 0.577 (1.12/0.608), setae 27; sclerite <i>b</i> 0.512 (0.506), basal process of sclerite <i>b</i> 0.198 (0.166), basal process of sclerite <i>b</i> 0.198 (0.166), setae 0 (0); sclerite <i>c</i> 0.930 (0.896), setae 7 (7). <i>Female</i>. Similar to male, other than sexual characters, and slightly larger. <b>Distribution and habitat:</b> This species has only been recorded from the base of Toolbrunup Peak in the Stirling Range National Park (Fig. 5) and specimens were collected alongside a seasonally dry creek bed using pitfall traps, or from under eucalypt logs.
description: Published as part of <i>Edward, Karen L. &amp; Harvey, Mark S., 2010, A review of the Australian millipede genus Atelomastix (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida: Iulomorphidae) 2371, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 2371 (1)</i> on pages 15-16, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2371.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5312214