Atalopharetra eberhardi, Mesibov, Robert, 2005

Mesibov, Robert, 2005, (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae) from Tasmania, Australia, Zootaxa 1034, pp. 21-42 : 34-37

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.169707
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6267605
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/CE026E33-FFB5-FF5F-EF15-74B58C04E9B8
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Atalopharetra eberhardi
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Atalopharetra eberhardi View in CoL n. sp.

Figs. 1 View FIGURE 1 C, 2C, 3D, 3H, 12, 13, 14; map Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15

Holotype: Male, Quetzalcoatl Conduit (cave PB3), Precipitous Bluff, Tasmania, approx. 43°30’S 146°35’E, 29.iii.1986, S. Eberhard, on riparian mudbanks, field code PB38, QVM 23:45950.

Paratypes: 2 males, 6 females, same details as holotype, QVM 23:12620; 1 female, Cueva Blanca (cave PB4), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°35’E, 18.xii.1988, S. Eberhard, field code PB43, QVM 23:12624; 1 female, same details but A. Clarke, moist wall of Inundation Passage, below 30 m pitch, 1.5 m above stream, field code 128824, QVM 23:41688; 1 female, Damper Cave (cave PB1), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°35’E, 22.xii.1988, S. Eberhard, field code PB14, QVM 23:12622; 1 female, Bauhaus (cave PB6), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°36’E, 24.xii.1988, S. Eberhard, field code PB618, anterior segments missing, QVM 23:12319; 1 female, same details, field code PB62, QVM 23:12623; 1 stadium IV female, same details but A. Clarke, moist wall 15 cm above streamway, 120 m from surface, field code 1288118, QVM 23:41699; 1 female, Damper Cave (PB1), 26.xii.1988, A. Clarke, moist wall in Honey & Cream Passage near junction with Hydrobiid Highway, field code 1288141, QVM 23:41700; 1 male, 1 female, Xymox (cave PB7), Precipitous Bluff, approx. 43°29’S 146°36’E, 7.i.1990, S. Eberhard, on wet cave wall near dripping water, field code PB72, AM KS91436 (formerly QVM 23:12317).

Diagnosis: No pigmentation; paranota wide with continuous row of prominent marginal teeth and prominent dorsal tubercles; telopodite with two large, broad, laminar, wellseparated distal processes arising anteriorly and posterolaterally; no limbus.

Description: Male ca. 18 mm long; segment 12 height ca. 1.0 mm, width ca. 1.7 mm. Body colour in alcohol white. Cuticle not brittle; no detectable odour of defensive secretion in alcoholpreserved specimens. Head almost flat in front, sparsely setose with longer setae on vertex; antennae ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 D) slender, fairly short, separated by about 2.5 times a socket diameter, sockets well impressed ventrally and laterally; antennomere 6 the widest, antennomeres 2, 3 and 6 roughly equal in length, 4 and 5 shorter. Collum slightly narrower than head, subquadrangular in dorsal view, with posterior corner projecting as tooth armed with two stout setae and with two similarly armed posterior marginal teeth; dorsally with long anterior marginal setae and a transverse midlength row of sparse setae, all setae arising from small, prominent tubercles. Segment 2 slightly wider than collum, segments 3–6 increasingly but only slightly wider than 2, segments 7–18 more or less equal in width. Paranota on segments 2–18 wide, slightly concave upwards, in lateral view rising from anterior to posterior, the margin of segment 2 slightly higher than collum corner and lower than segment 3 margin; with paranotal margins projecting anteriorly and with continuous marginal row of up to 9 prominent teeth ending in large, toothlike corner projection ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 C), with 2 prominent posterior marginal teeth on segments 2–5 and one on segments 6– 18, and with all but anterior marginal teeth armed with stout seta. Posterolateral portion of paranotal surface on most segments with 4 prominent tubercles each armed with stout seta ( Fig. 12 View FIGURE 12 ). Limbus lacking ( Figs. 2 View FIGURE 2 C, 12). Ozopore opening dorsally near posterior corner of paranotum ( Fig. 12 View FIGURE 12 ). Preanal ring sparsely setose; epiproct with rounded tip, extending well past anal valves; hypoproct trapezoidal. Spiracles small, on diplosegments with anterior spiracle above anterior leg and posterior spiracle above and slightly anterior to posterior leg; spiracle interior not protruding (spiracles visible in Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 C). Sternites ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2 C) longer than wide, anterior leg bases not as well separated from posterior leg bases as in A. clarkei . Anterior legs not swollen, all legs slender; tarsus about as long as femur and both podomeres much longer than prefemur, postfemur or tibia; claw long and slender; anterior legs lacking both “brush” setae and sphaerotrichomes. Leg 2 coxa with inconspicuous gonopore on almost unmodified coxa. Leg 7 bases close together. Gonopod aperture narrowly ovoid, about threequarters the width of segment 7 prozonite, rim very slightly extended. Gonopod coxae tapering distally, lightly joined mediodistally, medial apical extension small, cannula prominent. Telopodites ( Figs. 13 View FIGURE 13 , 14 View FIGURE 14 ) small, largely contained within aperture. Telopodite base broad, sparsely and coarsely setose on posterior surface, giving rise at about onethird the telopodite height to 2 laminar, hoodlike processes; anterior process tapering distally and bent posteriorly near apex; posterior process arising from lateral surface of telopodite, curving medially and slightly anteriorly, broadly truncate distally with small, fingerlike extension near base on posteromedial edge. Solenomere cylindrical with obliquely truncate tip, arising on anteromedial surface of telopodite near base, extending distally before bending laterally, crossing top of telopodite base and again turning distally to stand freely in centre of space contained by hoodlike processes, terminating at about twothirds the telopodite height. Male and female equal in size and almost identical in overall appearance; posterior rim of epigynum elevated medially as broad, rounded projection well separated from segment 2 leg bases; cyphopods not examined.