Pallenopsis cidaribatus Child 1975

Pallenopsis cidaribatus . — Child 1975, 190: 291–293, fig. 10; 1954, 116:63, fig. 30g; 1968, 131: 47.

Material: AM P702803, 8 young individuals, cement glands or pores not visible. 12 December 2005, Ningaloo North, Western Australia, CSIRO station 162-17, collected by beam trawl from 21.9781°S 113.8370°E to 21.9838°S 113.8350°E, soft bottom, 107 m. NMV J54994, 1 male. 12 December 2005, Ningaloo South, Western Australia, CSIRO station 164, collected with Sherman sled from 21.9615°S 113.8450°E to 21.9679°S 113.8370°E, hard bottom, 104 m. AM P72806, 3 males, 10 females, NMV J54988, 1 female. 9 December 2005, Ningaloo South, CSIRO station 141-142, collected with beam trawl from 22.0743°S 113.8140°E to 22.0784°S 113.8130°E, soft bottom, 102 m. NMV J54990, 2 young individuals. 7 December 2005, Shark Bay, Western Australia, CSIRO station 115-031, collected by Sherman sled from 25.9297°S 112.6800°E to 25.9330°S 112.6810°E, hard bottom, 120 m.

Remarks: Pallenopsis cidaribatus is so far endemic to Western Australia. It was described by Child (1975) based on specimens collected by CSIRO from North West Cape to SW of Jurien Bay, also around the 100 m depth mark. This collection contains a larger numbers of individuals per site, suggesting perhaps a high abundance of the species in the Ningaloo area, at least in the summer months.