Gasterogramma sp.

Mesibov, Robert, 2003, The millipede genus Gasterogramma (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) in Tasmania, Australia, with descriptions of seven new species, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 60 (2), pp. 207-219 : 217

Gasterogramma sp.

Material. 2 males. Australia, Tasmania. Cam R. area, DQ019512 [41º05´03´´ 145º49´55´´], 140 m, 30 Jul 1997, R. Mesibov and R. van Riet, QVM 23 :40634.

Remarks. These specimens were found at the extreme eastern end of the G. wynyardense range, close to a locality for that species. However, they seem closest to G. rusticum : the prefemoral prolongation has a wide terminal notch, the prostatic groove has an “S-bend” as it crosses the posterior face of the telopodite, and the body is larger and more deeply pigmented than it is in G. wynyardens e. They differ from G. rusticum in having a mesodistally directed, spike-like process arising on the mesoposterior face of the telopodite at about the level of the solenomerite. One interpretation is that the specimens represent a disjunct G. rusticum population (the nearest known G. rusticum locality is 30 km to the east) which has long been separated from the main population and is somewhat differentiated. It is curious that the specimens were collected at the edge of the wynyardense / rusticum distribution gap, in which only G. psi has so far been found. Genetic studies of Gasterogramma populations in the area may help to clarify the taxonomic situation.