Leodice laticeps ( Ehlers, 1868 ) Zanol & Hutchings & Fauchald, 2020

Zanol, Joana, Hutchings, Pat A. & Fauchald, Kristian, 2020, Eunice sensu latu (Annelida: Eunicidae) from Australia: description of seven new species and comments on previously reported species of the genera Eunice, Leodice and Nicidion, Zootaxa 4748 (1), pp. 1-43 : 27

Leodice laticeps ( Ehlers, 1868) n. comb.

Eunice laticeps Ehlers, 1868: 312 .— Fauchald 1992: 188.

Eunice tentaculata .— Quatrefages 1866: 317 (not Eunice tentaculata Kinberg, 1865 ).

? Eunice makemoana . — Monro 1939: 120 (not Leodice makemoana Chamberlin, 1919 ).

Material examined. Queensland. Thursday Island, Torres Strait , Sep 1908, AM G.11235 (28) . Lizard Island , 14°40’S, 145°28’E, coll. P. Hutchings, Jan 1975, AM W.197147 (l) . Little Upolo Cay , 38 km NNE of Cairns, under coral rocks, coll. I. Loch & P. Colman, Jul 1970, id. P. Hutchings, AM W.4402 (2). Ellison Reef, AM W.197018 (l). Port Molle , Sep 1908, AM G.11261 (1 +slide). Keppel Island , 51 m depth, Aug 1970, id. P. Hutchings, AM W.4380 (l). North West Islet, Capricorn Group , coll. M. Ward & W. Boardman, Jul 1929, AM W.2736 (l). Northwest Islet, Capricorn Group , coll. G.P. Whitley, May 1931, AM W.197864 (1); coll. M. Ward & W. Boardman, AM W.197863 (l). New South Wales. Minnie Waters , under rock in pool, coll. Fred Rost, 02 Nov 1963, AM W.197023 (l); coll. G. Biddle, Jan 1967, AM W.197024 (l). Yamba Point , coll. A.A. Cameron, 02 Dec 1939, AM W.3209 (l). Off Trial Bay , 31°39.7’S, 153°07.6’E, 183 m, M. V . San Pedro Strait B.M. R ., 12 Dec 1970, AM W.6182 (l). Long Reef , 39 m depth, coll. Shelf Benthic Survey, 14 Apr 1972, AM W.6916 (4); 43 m depth, found in Bryozoa , coll. Shelf Benthic Survey, 27 Apr 1972, AM W.6919 (l). Long Reef, Collaroy , under stones. Museum staff members, 25 Sep 1962, AM W.197021 (l). East coast of Sydney , coll. Shelf Benthic Survey, 22 Feb 1973, AM W.6920 (3). North of North Head , among cunjevoi ascidians, AM W.197015 (l). Port Jackson , AM G.11251 (1); Sep 1908, AM G.11281 (1); coll. Dr. Cox, AM W.197022 (l). Watsons Bay , under stones, coll. E.F. Hallmann, 1910, AM W.209 (l); from boom piles, coll. E. Pope, 08 Mar 1946, AM W.197020 (l). Broken Bay , AM W.5731 (l). Wyargine Point, Middle Harbour , coll. Museum party, 19 Dec 1968, AM W.197016 (l). Among growth from hull of HMAS Penguin when in dock, Cockatoo Island , Australia, coll. Whitley & Livingston, Apr 1926, AM W.2125 (l), AM W.2126 (1). Malabar, Sydney , 71 m depth, Stat Z, found in Bryozoa, Shelf Benthic Survey, 20 Jul 1972, AM W.6232 (l). Port Kembla , approx. 2 km north of harbour, 25 m depth, Stn 20, sandy bottom, coll. J. Watson, AM W.16348 (l). Shellharbour , coll. G. McAndrew, AM W.197799 (l). Off Burrawurra Head, near Batemans Bay , 91 m depth, coll. Capt. K. Moller, 1928, AM W.2588 (l), W.2590 (l). Green Cape lighthouse, just south of Eden , boulder fauna, coll. P. Hutchings, 13 Feb 1973, AM W.17204 (l). South Australia. Upper Spencer Gulf , St B, eastern side, coll. S. Shepherd, Sep 1973, AM W.197577 (l). Spencer Gulf, Tiparra Reef , 5 m depth, coll. S Shepherd, 25 May 1973, AM W.197862 (l). Sellicks Beach , 35°20’S, 138°27’E, reef to the north, coll. P. Hutchings, 16 Mar 1979, AM W.197571 (l). Aldinga Bay , 35°21’S, 138°25’E, under rocks near low tide level, coll. S.J. Edmonds, 12 Oct 1977, AM W.197575 (l).

Tasmania. Coll. K. Broadbent, May 1879, A5972 (l) . Erith Island , Bass Strait, 5 m depth, coll. N. Coleman, May 1974, AM W.6564 (l). 16 km off Circular Head, coll. F. I.S. “Endeavour”, 24 Jun 1809, AM E.688 (1). Islet south of Flinders Island , Bass Strait, coll. I. Bennett, 10 Jan 1961, id. I. Bennett, AM W.4761 (3+). Western Australia. Woodmans Groin, Cockburn Sound, Perth, WA, 5 m depth, under rock in sand tube, coll. N. Coleman, 09 Jan 1971, id. P. Hutchings AM W.4987 (l). Northern Territory. Dudley Reef, Darwin, NT, coll. G. Whitley & J. Boase, 28 Oct 1965, AM W.5925 (1).

Remarks. The material identified as L. laticeps by K.F. in the collections of the Australian Museum consists of more than one species of different genera, one of which is newly described above, E. confusus . He also originally had re-identified specimens of L. pycnobranchiata ( McIntosh, 1885) as L. laticeps . This error is here corrected with the aid of a series of meristic and numeric observations during the early identification process. However, a careful re-examination of the material here listed is necessary to confirm the identity. It is possible that additional, not yet recognized taxa are present in the material identified by us. Leodice laticeps has been confounded with E. aphroditois ( Pallas, 1788) ; on occasion it has been considered the juvenile of the latter ( Fauvel 1919). However, it is currently clear that both species belong to different genera. Leodice laticeps bear regularly articulated ceratostyles and palpostyles, which are exclusive features of Leodice species ( Zanol et al. 2014).

Type locality. Western Port , Australia .