Bennelongia koendersae, Martens, Halse & Schon, 2015

Martens, Koen, Halse, Stuart & Schön, Isa, 2015, On the Bennelongia nimala and B. triangulata lineages (Crustacea, Ostracoda) in Western Australia, with the description of six new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 111, pp. 1-36 : 16-19

Bennelongia koendersae sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6CA91421-02FF-4A2E-A0E6-89F417057C81

Figs 6 E–H, 7A–N

Abbreviated description

Valves in inner view ( Fig. 7A , C–D, F) relatively elongated, with rounded dorsal margin and greatest height situated well in front of the middle; ventral margin anteriorly without pronounced mandibular curve. LV ( Fig. 7A, D ) with antero-distal il running only halfway along the anterior valve margin, antero-proximal il running slightly higher along the anterior valve margin; posterior il tuberculate and running halfway up the posterior margin. RV ( Fig. 7C, F ) with antero-ventral lapel large, rounded and strongly serrated ( Fig. 7 K–N). Valves with heavy external ornamentation, mostly consisting of small tubercles ( Fig. 7B, E , G–J).

Cp ( Fig. 7B, E , G–J) with large LV/RV overlap, but less so than in B. tirigie sp. nov. CpD and CpV with greatest width situated in the middle in males ( Fig. 7 G–H), slightly behind the middle in females ( Fig. 7 I–J), anteriorly with strong and asymmetrical rostrum.

Soft parts as typical of the genus. Hemipenes ( Fig. 6 E–F) almost symmetrical, edge of ms slightly sinuous, ls with extremity rounded. Lpp ( Fig. 6G ) with distal segment rather broad, distal half of second segment with parallel margins. Rpp ( Fig. 6H ) with distal segment large, subtriangular and with almost straight margins, sensory organ on first segment stout.

Etymology

The species is named after Dr Annette Koenders (Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA), in recognition of her contribution to our knowledge of the genetic diversity of various Australian invertebrate groups.

Type material

Holotype

♂ ( WAMC55611 ), with soft parts dissected in a sealed slide and valves stored dry in a micropalaeontological slide.

Allotype

♀ ( WAMC55612 ) carapace stored dry in a micropalaeontological slide.

Paratypes

Numerous males and females from the type locality, either dissected and stored as the holotype, as carapaces used for SEM or in alcohol ( WAMC 55613–55619, OC3376–3377). See Table 1 for listing of specimens.

Type locality

AUSTRALIA: Strelley Station, shallow unnamed claypan, Pilbara, WA (sample KIES1A), approximate coordinates: 20°24’58” S, 118°59’4” E. All material collected by the authors on 21 Apr. 2006.

Measurements (all measurements in µm – see Table 1 for measurements of all specimens illustrated with SEM)

Holotype ♂ ( WAMC55611 ): RV: L = 1110, H = 587; LV: L = 1210, H = 621.

Paratype ♀ (WAMC55612): RV: L = 1240, H = 689; LV: L = 1340, H = 729.

Differential diagnosis

Bennelongia koendersae sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other species in the B. nimala lineage by the size and shape of the antero-ventral lapel on the RV, and from B. tirigie sp. nov. by the less pronounced anterior LV/RV overlap. Bennelongia koendersae sp. nov. can be distinguished from those species in the lineage where males are known ( B. nimala , B. regina , B. tirigie sp. nov.) by the large and triangular second segment of the Rpp.

Ecology and distribution

The species is only known from its type locality, which is a small, ephemeral, turbid claypan.

Remarks

In a second sample from the 2006 KIES collecting expedition in Pilbara, a species close to B. koendersae sp. nov. was recognised with molecular methods only. This species (as Spec. 15 in Fig. 2 ) looked very much like B. koendersae sp. nov. and the only two specimens available were both screened in toto by molecular methods to establish conspecificity. Although these specimens cluster close to B. koendersae sp. nov. in the phylogenetic COI tree, they are considered to represent a second species ( Fig. 2 ). As no further specimens are available, it could not be checked whether the species is cryptic or morphologically distinguishable from B. koendersae sp. nov. We thus leave this clade in open nomenclature.

Locality of Spec. 15

Ethel Creek claypan, east of Roy Hill Station, Pilbara, WA (sample KIES15). Approximate coordinates: 22°41’28” S, 119°58’45” E. Specimens collected by the authors on 24 Apr. 2006.

Figures

Fig. 6. Bennelongia tirigie sp. nov. (A–D, WAMC55595, holotype) and B. koendersae sp. nov. (E– H, WAMC55615, paratype), all ♂. A–B. Outlines of hemipenes. C. Lpp. D. Rpp. E–F. Outlines of hemipenes. G. Lpp. H. Rpp. Scale = 73 µm for A, D–E; 31 µm for B–C, F–H

Fig. 7. Bennelongia koendersae sp. nov. (all from type locality: claypan at Strelley Station, Pilbara, WA). A. LVi (♀, OC3376). B. CpRL (♀, WAMC55618). C. RVi (♀, OC3376). D. LVi (holotype ♂, WAMC55611). E. CpRL (♂, WAMC55613). F. RVi (♂, WAMC55611). G. CpD (♂, WAMC55613). H. CpV (♂, specimen lost). I. CpD (allotype ♀, WAMC55612). J. CpV (♀, WAMC55617). K. RVi, detail anterior margin (♀, OC3376). L. RVi, tilted, detail anterior margin (♀, OC3376. M. RVi, detail anterior margin (♂, WAMC55611). N. RVi, tilted, detail anterior margin (♂, WAMC55611). Scale = 1 mm for A–J; 200 µm for K–N.

Fig. 2. Phylogenetic tree constructed with Bayesian Inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods from COI sequences belonging to a total of 54 ostracods from the Bennelongia nimala and B. triangulata lineages, respectively, with the marine ostracod Macroscapha walterae from Genbank (accession number GU566887) as outgroup. Numbers above and below nodes illustrate statistical support for this particular node. Numbers above nodes are % bootstrap values of ML analyses with 1000 replicates, numbers below nodes in italics represent Bayesian posterior probabilities (ranging from 0 to 1). Both methods, BI and ML, resulted in the same tree topology. Different phylogenetic clades are indicated by different colours.