Paratanais tara Bird, 2011

BIRD, GRAHAM J. & BAMBER, ROGER N., 2013, New littoral, shelf, and bathyal Paratanaidae (Crustacea: Peracarida: Tanaidacea) from New Zealand, with descriptions of three new genera, Zootaxa 3676 (1), pp. 1-71 : 53

Paratanais tara Bird, 2011

Figure 32

Paratanais tara: Bird (2011) : 26 –34, figs 12–17.

Material examined. 60 manca-II, 47 manca-III, 114 non-ov. ♀♀, one ov. ♀, seven ♂♂, Stn GJB/1-11, Little Oneroa Beach (eastern end), Waiheke Island, LW, dense Corallina -sand turf on rock, 36.7839°S, 175.0187°E, 4 January 2011 ; 43 manca-II, 20 manca-III, 55 non-ov. ♀♀, five ov. ♀♀, four ♂♂, CR.23411, Stn GJB/5-11, Little Oneroa Beach (western end), Waiheke Island, LW, dense Corallina -sand turf on rock, 36.7838°S, 175.0159°E, 6 January 2011 ; 31 manca-II, six manca-III, 72 non-ov. ♀♀, two ov. ♀♀, eleven ♂♂, Stn GJB/52-11, northern shore, Ruffins Peninsula, Coromandel, LWN, Corallina -sand turf on rock, 36.7556°S, 175.4651°E, 17 October 2011 .

Remarks. New records of this species come from the Coromandel Peninsula and Waiheke Island, just north of Auckland. These specimens agree with the type material from Aotea Harbour on the west coast of North Island, although several were of larger size (up to 5.4 mm, compared to the reported 3.7 mm in Bird op.cit.) and more elongate ( Fig. 32A–B ), and the male cheliped has slightly more enhanced processes on the dactylus incisive margin ( Fig. 32H ). The extended/relaxed specimens of this species are the most elongate of the NZ Paratanais , and this feature enhances its similarities with the Açorean P. martinsi . The male mouthparts ( Fig. 32D–G ) are similar to those of P. paraoa .

At the exposed northern site on Waiheke Island (Little Oneroa Bay) P. tara was the dominant species in the compact Corallina -sand mats, comprising 59–85% of the tanaidacean fauna, with Parakonarus kopure Bird, 2011 making up the remainder. In contrast, on the sheltered southern shore (Omiha Bay), where silt smothered the stony substrate and the Corallina was more foliose, Parakonarus was extremely abundant and hugely dominant, and P. tara was apparently absent, ‘replaced’ by P. paraoa , which represented only about 1% of the tanaidacean fauna.

Figures

FIGURE 32. Paratanais tara. Holotype female (after Bird 2011): A habitus. Non-ov., elongate female from Coromandel (Stn