Cubaris dhaliwali, Lillemets & Wilson, 2002

Lillemets, B. & Wilson, G., 2002, Armadillidae (Crustacea: Isopoda) from Lord Howe Island: New Taxa and Biogeography, Records of the Australian Museum 54, pp. 71-98 : 90-94

Cubaris dhaliwali n.sp.

Figs. 15–17

Type material. HOLOTYPE Ƌ, P59956, 7.1 × 3.4 mm, QMB157 . PARATYPES: P59960, ♀ 9.5 × 4.5 mm, QMB157 ; P59957, Ƌ, 5 SEM stubs, QMB157 ; P59959, Ƌ, 2 SEM stubs, QMB157 ; P59999, ♀, 3 SEM stubs, QMB157 ; P59958, Ƌ, QMB157 ; P59965, 1 ♀, 2 ƋƋ, 6 juveniles, LHI126 ; P59966, 1 ♀, 1 juvenile, LHI139 ; P59963, 4 ƋƋ, 2 ♀♀, 60 juveniles, QMB157 ; P59961, 7 ind., QMB157 ; P59962, 8 ind., QMB157 .

Type locality. Transit Hill (Clear Place), Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia, 31°31.5'S 159°05'E, leaf litter, vegetation: Drypetes australascia , Cryptocarya triplinervis and Howea forsterana, GBM , xi1979, QMB 157.

Additional material: P59964, Ƌ, QMB156 ; P59973, ♀, GBM, QMB131 ; P59974, 6 ind, QMB132 ; P59975, 1 ind, QMB155 ; P59967, 1 ind, LHI196 ; P59968, 3 ind, LHI413 ; P59969, 2 ind, LHI428 ; P59970, 4 ind, LHI429 ; P59971, 1 ind, LHI430 ; P59972, 1 ind, LHI517 ; P34902, 3 inds, LHI 122 ; P34903, 6 inds, LHI 533 ; P34904, 1 inds, LHI119 .

Diagnosis. Dorsal surface smooth; frons with short setae. Pereon epimera 1 lateral margin simple, ventral surface ventral view, and tip, dorsal view; C, pleopod 2 and exopod tip, ventral view. Scale bar = 1 mm.

endolobes small, rounded, closer to lateral margin than tergite junction, no ridge anterior to endolobe; epimera 2 anterior third of ventral surface thickened, endolobes small, round, near midline. Pleotelson posterolateral corners rounded, posterior margin straight, lateral sides parallel. Male pereopods 1, 2 and 3 carpus ventral side with brush of long setae with flat spoon-like tips increasing in length distally, decreasing in length from pereopod 1–3. Male pleopod 2 exopod row with long, thick setae along ventrolateral margin. Uropod protopod length 1.6 width, small gap between protopod distal portion and pleotelson.

Description. Colour pale brown with darker spots along pereonites posterior margins and epimera tergite junctions in alcohol. Body ( Fig. 15A,B,D; 16A) strongly convex with vertical epimera. Cephalon ( Fig. 15C,D) frontal lamina low, not raised above vertex, straight, lateral margins rounded; dorsal surface smooth, frons with short setae; head rounded, width 3.0 length. Eyes length equal to lateral head length, with 18– 20 ocelli in adults, produced laterally. Pereon ( Fig. 15A,B,D,F; 16A) epimera 1 anterior margin narrowly rounded, dorsal surface vertical to slightly convex, lateral margin simple, slightly sinusoidal when viewed ventrally, posterior margin slightly subrectangular, ventral surface endolobes small, rounded, closer to lateral margin than tergite junction, not connected to lateral or posterior margin, no ridge anterior to endolobe; epimera 2 anterior margin broadly rounded, posterior margin rounded rectangular, anterior third of ventral surface thickened, endolobes small, round, near midline; anterior margins of epimera 3–6 broadly rounded, of epimera 7 rectangular; posterior margins of epimera 3–4 broadly rounded, epimera 5–7 increasingly rectangular and decreasingly angled posteriorly; epimera 3–7 endolobes absent; tergites 1–6 posterior margins slightly curved, tergite 7 posterior margin straight; tergite 1 length 0.25 pereon length; dorsal surface smooth. Noduli lateralis in one straight line on all pereonites on each side. Pleon ( Fig. 15A) pleura anterior margin slightly rounded, posterior margin pointed; pleonites 1–2 posterior margin curved, pleonites 3–5 straight; dorsal surface smooth. Pleotelson ( Fig. 15G) posterior margin rounded, sides parallel, length 0.9 width, dorsal surface smooth. Antenna ( Fig. 15D) long, slender, reaching middle of epimera 4; flagellum length 0.6 article 5 length; flagellar article length proportions 1:3; all segments setose, more densely on flagellum. Mandibles ( Fig. 17A–E). Left mandible setose lobe with two robust fan-shaped penicils and row of separate long simple setae between lacinia mobilis and molar process; right mandible setose lobe with group of short simple setae confined to lacinia mobilis base. Maxilliped ( Fig. 17H,I) palp article 2 with apical group of setae on small lobe. Male pereopods ( Fig. 17J–L) 1, 2 and 3 carpus ventral side with brush of long setae with flat spoon-like tips increasing in length distally, decreasing in length from pereopod 1–3. Penes ovoid, proximal bilobed lamellar process subtriangular, covering 0.2 penes length. Male pleopod ( Fig. 16B,C) 1 exopod triangular, apex with two long setae, lateral margin with two setae, pseudotrachea along proximal lateral margin, width 0.5 exopod width, length 0.4 exopod length; exopod length 0.4 endopod length. Pleopod 2 exopod proximal wide portion length 0.33 exopod length, pseudotrachea along proximal lateral margin, width 0.5 exopod width, length 0.3 exopod length; row of long, thick setae along ventrolateral margin; endopod proximal article length 0.2 endopod length; exopod length 0.75 endopod length. Pleopod 3 exopod lateral margin near apex with 4 large setae; exopod 4 with two large setae on lateral margin; exopod 5 apex with row of fine setae; pleopods 3– 5 exopods increasingly rounded; scales along lateral margin to apex; pleopods width 0.4 pleon width. Uropod ( Fig. 15G,H) protopod length 1.6 width, proximal width 2.0 distal width, inner margin slightly wave-like, leaving gap between pleotelson and protopod distal portion, distal tip anteriorly rounded and posteriorly pointed, half protopod length visible dorsally; length (along inner margin of dorsally visible portion) less than 2.0 width (at point of exopod insertion); exopod length 0.5 protopod dorsally visible portion length, inserted dorsally 1 3 length to apex; endopod setose with longer apical setae than exopod, exopod length 0.6 endopod length; dorsal surface smooth.

Etymology. This species is named in honour of the first author’s husband, Jack Dhaliwal.

Remarks. Cubaris dhaliwali n.sp. can be distinguished from the other species of Cubaris in the Australasian region by the following features (“*” indicates species originally placed in Nesodillo and may still belong in that genus):

smooth dorsal surface [ C. chiltoni Vandel,1973 , C.hickmani Green, 1961 , C. goweri Lewis, 1998b , C. lewisae nom. nov., C. merulanoides ( Wahrberg, 1922) , C. murina Brandt, 1833 , C. nigroflava ( Wahrberg, 1922) , C. rufoniger ( Wahrberg, 1922) and C. tasmaniensis Green, 1961 ];

pleotelson with parallel lateral sides and rounded posterolateral corners [ C. ambitiosa ( Budde-Lund, 1885) , C. fasciata Lewis, 1998b , C. ferruginea Lewis, 1998b , C. minilobus Lewis, 1998b , C. hirsuta Lewis, 1998b , C. tasmaniensis Green, 1961 , C. marmorata ( Wahrberg, 1922) , C. sulcifrons Green, 1961 , C. tamarensis Green, 1961 , C. incisa ( Verhoeff, 1926) *, C. plastica ( Verhoeff, 1926) *, C. pronyensis ( Verhoeff, 1926) *, C. canalensis ( Verhoeff, 1926) *, C. lacustris ( Verhoeff, 1926) * and C. pacifica ( Verhoeff, 1926) *];

absence of a ridge in front of the endolobe on epimera 1 [ C. miser ( Budde-Lund, 1904) ];

lateral margin of epimera 1 not grooved ( C. lundi Stebbing, 1900 ), shape of the uropods [ C. tarangensa ( Budde-Lund, 1904) ];

epimera 6 posterior margin without notch ( C. crenata Lewis, 1998b ).