Anoplodactylus versluysi Loman, 1908

Arango, Claudia P., 2003, Sea spiders (Pycnogonida, Arthropoda) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: new species, new records and ecological annotations, Journal of Natural History 37 (22), pp. 2723-2772 : 2757

Anoplodactylus versluysi Loman, 1908

(figure 13)

Anoplodactylus versluysi Loman, 1908: 73–74 , pl. 3, figures 33–39; Stock, 1954: 84–85, figure 38a; 1965: 29, figure 46; 1968: 50; 1991: 224; Nakamura and Child, 1983: 387.

Material examined. Pandora Reef, 3–6 m, in fouled rubble, 19 April 2000, three X, four W.

Description. Trunk length 2 mm, 0.9 mm wide, third segmentation line hardly visible, body smooth, crurigers separated by twice their diameter, their size progressively decreasing; ocular tubercle tall, tip of conical shape, acutely pointed; abdomen erect; proboscis with slight inflation at mid-point; female with four ventral protuberances. Scape one-segmented, as long as proboscis, scape and chelae setose, fingers curved, gaping. Ovigers six-segmented, third segment longest, with short erect setae, fifth and sixth segments setose. Legs long, first and second coxae with anterior and posterior spines, short ventral genital spurs in males, genital pores of females on low protuberances; femur and first tibia with distal swelling and a spine; cement gland a short duct dorsally in the mid-femur; propodus with heel, three heel spines, 13 sole spines, claw long, curved, with tiny auxiliary claws.

Distribution. This is a new record for Australia. Anoplodactylus versluysi is so far restricted to Madagascar and Indo-west Pacific localities.

Remarks. These specimens from Pandora Reef coincide with descriptions by Loman (1908) and Stock (1954). The main difference lies in the type of habitat in which they were collected since A. versluysi was known from specimens in trawls rather than as a reef species. The four ventral processes in females are shared with A. digitatus mentioned above.