Bellorchestia spadix ( Hurley, 1956 )

Hughes, Lauren E. & Lowry, James K., 2023, Review of New Zealand Coastal Talitroids with description of three new genera (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Senticaudata), Zootaxa 5268 (1), pp. 1-81 : 30

Bellorchestia spadix ( Hurley, 1956)

Talorchestia telluris .— Chilton, 1917: 301–302 (in part).

Talorchestia spadix Hurley, 1956: 360 key, 383 figs. 132–148.

Bellorchestia spadix .— Serejo & Lowry, 2008: 169.— Lowry, 2012: 2.— Hughes & Lindsay, 2021: 86, 87.

Type material. Unverified, CMNZ, see methods section for comment .

Type locality. Ross Beach , Westland and Kaiapoi Beach, South Island, New Zealand .

Size. Male 12 mm, female 14 mm.

Remarks. The original description and illustration by Hurley adequately define and typify the taxon. No additional material of this species could be located in museum collections to establish a habitus illustration or better understand growth stage development of male sexually dimorphic characters. Despite the limited availability of material for study, Bellorchestia spadix is well diagnosed as a species and easily distinguished among New Zealand coastal talitroids based on the male dimorphic pereopods ( Fig. 68 ).

Habitat. S upralittoral.

Distribution. New Zealand. South Island: Ross Beach, Westland and Kaiapoi Beach ( Hurley 1956).

Figures

FIGURE 68. Fieldguide to New Zealand Coastal Talitrids Subantarctorchestia aucklandiae (Spence Bate, 1862) gen. et comb. nov., Subantarctorchestia bollonsi (Chilton, 1909) gen. et comb. nov., Bellorchestia spadix (Hurley, 1956), Tatahipeke cookii gen. et. comb. nov., T. tumida (Stebbing, 1887) gen. et comb nov. (Part 2 of 3).