Austromaera brevicaudata ( Ledoyer, 1984 )

Krapp-Schickel, Traudl, 2009, Maeridae, the Ceradocus group *, Zootaxa 2260 (1), pp. 598-642 : 599

Austromaera brevicaudata ( Ledoyer, 1984)

( Fig. 1 )

Maera brevicaudata Ledoyer, 1984: 67 , fig. 32.

Austromaera brevicaudata . – Krapp-Schickel, 2008: 8, table 4.

Material examined. 36 males, juveniles, AM P75308 ( QLD 1988 ) ; 14 males, females, juveniles, AM P75309 ( QLD 1988 ) .

Type locality. l'îlot Maître , New Caledonia (~ 22°15'S 166°26'E) .

Description. Based on male, 4.0 mm, AM P75309.

Head. Head lateral cephalic lobe rounded, anteroventral slit present, anteroventral corner subquadrate. Antenna 1 longer than antenna 2, first two peduncular articles subequal; accessory flagellum with 2 articles. Antenna 2 gland cone not reaching end of article 3; article 4 longer than article 5. Mandible palp slender, article 1 about 3 x as long as wide, distally not produced, article 3 longer than article 1, but shorter than article 2. Maxillae 1–2 inner plates distally with long setae, proximally with very fine hairs.

Pereon. Gnathopod 1 coxa anteroventral corner produced into rounded lobe; carpus subequal in length to propodus; propodus distally tapering, posterior margin straight, without palmar corner, with 5 robust setae. Gnathopod 2 merus lacking distoventral spine; carpus triangular, clearly longer than wide; propodus slender, length more than twice width, palm defined by small hump. Pereopods 5–7 basis ovate, posteroventrally lengthened and widened into lobe.

Pleon. Epimeron 1 posteroventral corner rounded. Epimera 2–3 with minute posterodistal spine, smooth on all margins. Uropod 3 rami subequal, about 1.7 x length of subquadrate peduncle, distally tapering, with few robust setae. Telson trapezoidal, proximally as wide as long, distally with rounded tip and seta, on inner margin a U-shaped excavation with one strong robust seta inserted there.

Female (sexually dimorphic characters). No sexual differences found.

Habitat. Coral rubble, coarse sand, 2–4m depth.

Remarks. This material (with ovigerous females of 4.5 mm length) resembles the Australian species Austromaera mastersii ( Haswell, 1879a) , described from Port Jackson, NSW, to such a degree that if there were only a few specimens without eggs, it would be tempting to surmise these were juveniles. But Haswell's species is described with "5 lines" (5/12 of an inch) and also in Lowry & Springthorpe (2005) it is redescribed in the recently created genus Austromaera with a male of 11.8 mm and a female of 12.5 mm, while among the material of the Great Barrier Reef the ovigerous females have about one third of this length. Main differences besides the body length are the shape of gnathopod propodi, which are wider and more rounded in the species from NSW, and which fit perfectly to the description of Maera brevicaudata Ledoyer, 1984 . Austromaera brevicaudata forms a complex together with A. mastersii ( Haswell, 1879a) and A. bruzelii ( Stebbing, 1888) ; the latter may be synonymous to A. mastersii .

Distribution. Australia. Queensland: One Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef (current study). New Caledonia. l'îlot Maître ( Ledoyer 1984).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Austromaera brevicaudata (Ledoyer, 1984), male, 4.0 mm, AM P75308. One Tree Island, Lizard Island, Great barrier Reef.