Lanocira gardineri Stebbing, 1904

Bruce, Niel L. & Sidabalok, Conni, 2011, The genus Lanocira Hansen, 1890 (Corallanidae: Isopoda: Crustacea) in tropical Australian waters, Zootaxa 2793, pp. 23-34 : 25-26

Lanocira gardineri Stebbing, 1904

( Fig. 1 )

Lanocira gardineri Stebbing, 1904b: 706 , plate LIA; 1905:19.— Richardson 1910: 9.— Barnard 1940: 491 (list).— Nierstrasz 1931: 169.— Pillai 1954: 7; 1967: 274, fig 4I –O, pl. 1.3.— Kensley 1975: 39 (list); 1978: 75, figs 31C–D.— Jones 1982: 72.— Delaney 1989: 43.— Müller 1992: 45, figs 1–32.

Lanocira capensis Barnard, 1914: 359 , plate 31A; 1920: 354.— Nierstrasz 1931: 169.

Lanocira gardinieri .— Bruce 1982a: 316 (lapsus).

Lanocira wowine Yasmeen & Javed, 2000: 102 , figs 1–3 (new synonym).

Non Lanocira gardineri .— Javed & Yasmeen 1992: 12, figs 2, 3 (misidentification, probably undescribed species; see ‘Remarks’).

Type locality. Mahlosmadulu Atoll, North Province, Maldives; 36 metres.

Material examined. Samples from the Lizard Island (LIZ stations) region collected by N.L. Bruce and M. Błażewicz-Paszkowycz in 2009. 1 3 (5.6 mm), Day Reef, 14.47119°S, 145.52970°E, 13 February 2009, dead coral on vertical wall, 10–12 m, stn LIZ09-03A (MTQ W30482). 2 3 (5.9, 4.5 mm), Day Reef, 14.48539°S, 145.5464°E, 19 February 2009, outer reef front, dead coral on spur, 15 m, stn LIZ09-12B (MTQ W32432). 1 3 (4.7 mm; pleotelson and right uropod damaged), Yonge Reef, 14.61383°S, 145.61820°E, 18 February 2009, back reef, small coral rubble on sand, 15 m, stn LIZ09-10F (MTQ W32431 ). 1 Ƥ (5.7 mm, ovig.), from Hicks Reef, 14.44803°S, 145.49920°E, 21 February 2009, outer reef front, dead coral heads on reef edge, 5–7 m, stn LIZ09- 16E (MTQ W32433). 1 Ƥ (5.5 mm, ovig.), Heron Island, Capricorn Group, 23.45995°S, 151.86712°E, 11 November 2009, back reef, coral rubble, 10 m, stn HI09-002, K. Schnabel (MTQ W32434). 1 3 (5.1 mm), Adele Island, Kimberleys, Western Australia, 15.51667°S, 123.18350°E, 14 October 2009, 14 m, on Lobophylla, stn 02/K09-T1, coll. L. Patterson ( WAM C44393).

Remarks. Lanocira gardineri is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical Indian Ocean ( Delaney 1989). Müller (1992) suggested the possibility that not all the records belong to the one species, an opinion with which we agree. Most records of this species have not been accompanied by illustrations, and given that several species are primarily separated by the shape of the rostrum in mature males, a character that presumable develops incrementally with successive moults, it is not possible to confirm or reject most previous identifications. Furthermore as the type material for Lanocira gardineri is apparently lost, all attempts to locate this material having been unsuccessful, resolution of the identity of the species will necessitate a redescription and neotype designation. Identification of the present material is based on agreement with both Stebbing’s original description and Müller’s (1992) redescription.

The recently described Lanocira wowine Yasmeen & Javed, 2000 seems not to differ from Lanocira gardineri and is here placed in synonymy. The record of Lanocira gardineri from the Karachi ( Javed & Yasmeen 1992) is excluded from the synonymy as there are several points of difference between their figures and description, most notably in the relative length of the uropodal rami and in having an anteriorly acute rostrum.

Distribution. Maldives, South Africa, Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Persian Gulf, Mozambique, Madagascar, Eniwetok Atoll and Kenya (summarised by Delaney 1989); here recorded from the Kimberley coast, Western Australia, and both the southern and northern Great Barrier Reef.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lanocira gardineri Stebbing, 1904. Male, 5.9 mm (MTQ W 32432). A, dorsal view; B, lateral view; C, pleotelson.