Onithochiton societatis Thiele, 1909

Schwabe, Enrico, Sirenko, Boris I. & Seeto, Johnson, 2008, A checklist of Polyplacophora (Mollusca) from the Fiji islands, Zootaxa 1777, pp. 1-52 : 27

Onithochiton societatis Thiele, 1909

( Figure 7A )

Locus typicus: Society Islands.

Primary type: No longer existing.

Material examined: ZISP: 1 adult, 1 juvenile spm, Cicia Island [17°45’S 179°18’W], Callisto St. 83, 0.3 m, leg. Boris I. Sirenko, 0 6 February 1975, wet.

Habitat: The specimens were found on a porous reef flat, which was covered with some living corals and crustose calcareous algae.

Distribution: According to Kaas et al. (2006: 385) the species is known from the Society Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago only. Preece (1995: 342) also mentioned the species (tentatively identified) from the Pitcairn group.

Remarks: As no type material exists for this species the determination can be based on the original description only. This is the first record of the species from Fiji. Although Kaas et al. (2006) mentioned that the species is known from the above-mentioned material only, additional specimens are known. Schwabe et al. [unpublished data] have material from New Caledonia that fits the original description well, and additionally there are similar specimens from Tubuai, French Polynesia in the collection of the ZSM. Nevertheless we avoid the designation of a neotype, because no recent material is known from the more northeastern Society Islands and thus no comparisions with specimens from the type locality is available.

Figures

FIGURE 7. A, Onithochiton societatis Thiele, 1909, ZISP: Fiji, Cicia Island [17 ° 45 ’ S 179 ° 18 ’ W], Callisto St. 83, dorsal view. B – D, Cryptoplax elioti Pilsbry, 1901, dorsal views. B, ZSM Mol 20061619: Fiji, Viti Levu, Laucala Bay, west side of the Nukumbutho channel of the fringing reef opposite the USP, 18 ° 10.899 ' S 178 ° 27.971 ' E. C, ZSM Mol 20061916: Fiji, Viti Levu, Laucala Bay, reef flat opposite the Suva Harbour at the fringing reef, 18 ° 10.434 ' S 178 ° 24.987 ' E, anterior portion. D, same specimen as in fig. C, but posterior portion. E – F, Cryptoplax larvaeformis (de Blainville MS, Burrow, 1815), ZISP: Fiji, Cicia Island [17 ° 45 ’ S 179 ° 18 ’ W], Callisto St. 83. E, dorsal view of the anterior portion. F, dorsal view of the posterior portion. Scale bars 2 mm.