Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973

Coleman, Charles Oliver, 2009, Maxillipiidae *, Zootaxa 2260 (1), pp. 703-707 : 704

Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973

( Figs 1 , 2 )

Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973 , 32, figs 4–5. — Ledoyer, 1986: 819, fig. 320. — Ren, 1998: 245, figs 1, 2.

Material examined. Female with oostegites, 1.9 mm, AM P71147 (QLD 1707); 1 female with oostegites AM P 75545 (QLD 1980) ; 5 females AM P75546 (QLD 1939) .

Type locality. East of Nosy-Bé, north-west of Madagascar (~ 23°36'S 47°36'E) .

Description. Based on female, 1.9 mm, AM P71147.

Head. Head bulky, anterior margin weakly sinuous; rostrum short, blunt. Eyes large, irregularly shaped. Upper lip entire. Mandible multidentate, molar triturative; palp not developed. Lower lip with inner lobes. Maxilla 1 inner plate without any setae; medial robust seta of outer plate stouter and longer than remaining setae, directed medially; palp uniarticulate, distally expanded, with 4 apical robust setae, separated by 3 teeth. Maxilla 2 inner lobe less than half width of outer lobe. Maxilliped palp article 2 medially strongly expanded and almost reaching distal margin of article 3, which is folded against the distal margin of article 2.

Pereon. Pereonites 1–6 short, 7 longest, mid-dorsally elevated over pleonite 1. Coxa 1 not visible (vestigial?). Coxae 2–7 short, wider than long, ventrally weakly excavate (except for coxa 7, which is ventrally rounded). Gnathopod 1 carpus distally expanded, not produced; dactylus slender. Gnathopod 2 coxa anteriorly rounded, not produced, carpus not much wider than propodus; propodus slender with no palm. Pereopods 3 and 4 similar. Pereopod 6 apical articles extremely elongate.

Pleon. Pleonites 1–2 with mid-dorsal, narrow, posteriorly directed tooth and dorsolateral tooth on both sides. Pleonite 3 with short mid-dorsal tooth only. Epimera 1–2 with acute posteroventral corner. Epimeron 3 angular. Telson entire, 2 x wider than long, with a few small marginal notches with microtrichs.

Habitat. Found among Halimeda and other algae, sediment. Maxillipiids are known to be associates of Gorgonacea ( Lowry 1984; Thomas 1996).

Remarks. There are two species of Maxillipius , M. commensalis Lowry, 1984 and M. rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973 . Maxillipius commensalis differs from the latter by the anteriorly drawn out and pointed coxa 2 and the elongated carpus and propodus of gnathopod 1. Maxillipius rectitelson is known from Madagascar ( Ledoyer 1973, 1986) and the South China Sea ( Ren 1998) and despite the wide distribution the animals from Madagascar and China differ only very little from the Australian material. In Ledoyer's specimens from Madagascar, the dorsal processes differ from those of present material, in that the mid-dorsal posterior process is rather short, on pleonite 1, there are 2 dorsal processes and the dorsolateral teeth are absent. Also, on pleonite 2 only one mid-dorsal tooth is present. In addition, in the Madagascar material the maxilla 2 plates are subequal in width, whereas in present material the inner lobe is less than half the width of the outer lobe. The Chinese specimen, described by Ren (1998) has the carpus of gnathopod 1 slightly longer in relation to its width.

Distribution. Australia. Queensland: Lizard Island (current study). Madagascar. Nosy-Be ( Ledoyer 1973, 1986). South China Sea. Hainan ( Ren 1998).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973, female, 1.9 mm, AM P71147, North Point, Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Oostegites on habitus drawing omitted.

FIGURE 2. Maxillipius rectitelson Ledoyer, 1973, female, 1.9 mm, AM P71147, North Point, Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef.