Leptochiton liratus (H. Adams & Angas, 1864 )

Sirenko, Boris, 2020, New Zealand and Australian species of the genus Leptochiton (Mollusca Polyplacophora), Zootaxa 4851 (3), pp. 401-449 : 421-422

Leptochiton liratus (H. Adams & Angas, 1864)

( Figures 22 , 23 , 46D )

Lepidopleurus liratus H. Adams & Angas 1864: 192 ; Ashby 1921: 155; 1923: 218, pl. 16, fig. 1; 1928: 175.

Lepidopleurus inquinatus ; Sykes 1896: 86, pl. 6, fig. 4; Bednall 1897: 141, non Chiton inquinatus Reeve, 1847 . Lepidopleurus profundus May 1923 : pl. 14, fig. 2; Ashby 1927: 94, non Lepidopleurus profundus Ashby 1923: 221 , pl. 16, figs. 2, 2a [= Leptochiton collusor (Iredale & Hull 1925) ].

Terenochiton liratus ; Iredale & Hull 1925: 342, pl. 39, fig. 4; Cotton & Godfrey 1940: 477, fig. 458; Macpherson & Gabriel 1962: 3; Cotton 1964: 17, fig. 5.

Parachiton profundus ; Iredale & Hull 1925: 346, pl. 39, fig. 21.

Leptochiton (Leptochiton) liratus ; Kaas & Van Belle 1985: 136, fig. 60, map 20; Gowlett-Holmes 2001: 74.

Type material. Neotype ( AM C.10410), designated by Iredale & Hull (1925).

Type locality. South Australia, Yorke Peninsula, Hardwicke Bay .

Material examined. Western Australia, stn WA13, 35°03.86’S, 117°56.51’E, 10 m, 1 spm, BL 5.5 mm, ( MNHN IM–2013–67007 ), 28.11.2011 .

Distribution. L. liratus has been found from Western Port, Victoria, west to Nuyts Archipelago, South Australia; near Fremantle and Normalup, Western Australia, and along the southeast coast of Tasmania.

Remarks. Owing to Kaas & Van Belle (1985) and the present study (figs. 22, 23) the features of the valves, girdle and radula allowed to attribute L. liratus to the group of L. subantarcticus . The examined specimen has 10 gills arranged from valve VII to the anus, a radula of 2.0 mm in length with 25 transverse rows of mature teeth, and each tegmental granule with 9 pores of aesthetes.

Leptochiton liratus is similar to L. columnarius , L. sperandus , and L. subantarcticus but differs from them by having 32–36 longitudinal rows of granules in the central area of the intermediate valves (vs. 64 rows in L. columnarius , 26–28 rows in L. sperandus , and ca. 60 in L. subantarcticus ), by having a central or slightly posterior mucro (vs. anterior mucro in L. sperandus and L. subantarcticus ), and by having radial rows of granules in the head valve and postmucronal area of the tail valve (vs. granules arranged in quincunx in L. columnarius ). Slight differences between L. liratus and L. sperandus may be due to different sizes of the studied specimens. As long as detailed data on dorsal girdle scales and the number of pores of the aesthetes of L. sperandus are lacking, both species should be considered to be valid.

Figures

FIGURE 22. Leptochiton liratus, Western Australia, stn. WA13, 10 m, BL 5.5 mm (MNHN, IM–2013–67007) A. Valve I, dorsal view; B. Valve II, dorsal view; C. Valve V, dorsal view; D. Valve VIII, dorsal view; E. Valve VI, ventral view; F. Valve V, tegmentum sculpture in central area; G. Valve V, rostral view; H. Valve VIII, lateral view.

FIGURE 23. Leptochiton liratus, Western Australia, stn. WA13, 10 m, BL 5.5 mm (MNHN, IM–2013–67007). A, B. Central portion of radula from anterior part.

FIGURE 46. Images of type specimens: A. Leptochiton otagoensis, probably holotype (AM C.159221); B. L. sperandus, holotype (AM C.126815); C. L. liratellus, paratype AM C.149661); D. L. liratus, neotype (AM C.10410); E. L. opiparus, holotype (AM C.32026); F, G. L. subantarcticus, holotype (AM C.149662); H. L. columnarius, holotype (AM C.29060).