Tasmanocambala greeni, Mesibov, Robert, 2018

Mesibov, Robert, 2018, Cambaloid millipedes of Tasmania, Australia, with remarks on family-level classification and descriptions of two new genera and four new species (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida), ZooKeys 827, pp. 1-17 : 1

Tasmanocambala greeni sp. n. Figs 1A, B, D, F; 2A, D

Holotype.

Male in pieces, gonopod complex in genitalia vial, Maggs Mountain Road, Tasmania, -41.6908, 146.2075 ± 2 km, ca 450 m a.s.l., 8 October - 6 November 1979, R.H. Green, QVMAG QVM:2017:23:0006.

Paratypes.

In QVMAG: 1 female, same general locality and collector as holotype but compartment 2 turnoff, -41.7264, 146.1872 ± 1 km, ca 880 m a.s.l., 17 May 1979, QVM:2017:23:0005; 2 females, same details but 4 February 1980, QVM:2017:23:0007; 1 male, 6 females, same details but from "tussock corner", -41.6908, 146.2075 ± 2 km, 18 March 1980, QVM:2017:23:0008; 2 males, same details but from "plateau rainforest", 3 December 1980, QVM:2017:23:0009; 1 female, same details but from "site F", -41.7269, 146.1878 ± 1 km, ca 880 m a.s.l., 14 January 1981, QVM:2017:23:0010; 1 male, same details but 23 September 1981, QVM:2017:23:0277; 1 female, same details but 20 February 1989, QVM:2017:23:0020; 3 females, same details but from "site E", -41.7258, 146.1867 ± 1 km, ca 800 m a.s.l., 9 February 1982, QVM:2017:23:0011; 2 females, same details but 21 February 1984, QVM:2017:23:0012.

Other material.

89 males and 76 females from 44 sites other than the type locality, in QVMAG, TMAG and ZMUC; see Supplement 1 for details.

Description.

As for the genus, with the following details: male/female to 55+1/56+1 rings, 1.9/2.3 mm in midbody diameter. Anterior gonopod tip with 3-5 setae behind apical tab, on medial side (Fig. 1D).

Distribution.

Widespread in Tasmania but not yet recorded from the Midlands or the Northeast (Fig. 5A).

Name.

In honour of Robert “Bob” Green (1925-2013), Tasmanian zoologist and former Curator of Zoology at QVMAG. Green collected the type specimens of T. greeni sp. n. during his 15-year study of the impact of logging operations at Maggs Mountain in northwest Tasmania.

Remarks.

This species is likely to be a species complex, as there are geographically correlated variations in body size and in the length, position and distinctiveness of the horizontal striae on the trunk rings. However, I have not been able to observe any consistent, corresponding differences in gonopod structure. I chose the type specimens from the largest form in the putative species complex; this larger form mainly occurs in mid - to high-elevation areas in northwest and central Tasmania.