Talorchestia terraereginae Haswell, 1880

Serejo, Cristiana S., 2009, Talitridae *, Zootaxa 2260 (1), pp. 892-903 : 900-902

Talorchestia terraereginae Haswell, 1880

( Fig. 5 , Pl. 6G)

Talorchestia terrae-reginae Haswell, 1880: 98 , pl. V, fig. 4 (including fig. 2g male on the middle right of the plate, which is labeled as fig. 2).

Talorchestia spinipalma . — Stebbing, 1906a: 552 (in part). — Lowry & Stoddart, 2003: 276.

Talorchestia palawanensis Morino & Miyamoto, 1988: 93 , figs 1–3.

Type material. Lectotype, male, 12.9 mm, AM P69180, Port Denison , Queensland, Australia (~ 20°2'00''S 148°15'00''E), on sandy beach . Paralectotypes: 1 female, 14.2 mm, AM P69181 ; 2 males, 9.5 mm and 12.4 mm, 9 females AM P3415 , same data as lectotype .

Additional material examined. 1 juvenile male, 10.4 mm; 1 female, 8.2 mm; AM P71060 ( QLD 1722 ) . 8 males (larger males 13.5 – 13.7 mm) and 11 females (ovigerous, 9.4 – 9.8 mm), AM P71121 ; 2 males and 2 females, MNRJ; ( QLD 1722 ) .

Type locality. Port Denison , Queensland, Australia (~ 20°2'00''S 148°15'00''E), on sandy beach .

Description. Based on lectotype, male, 12.9 mm, AM P69180.

Head. Head eyes oval to subsquare (dorsal and ventral margins truncate), medium in size, 1/5–1/3 head length. Antenna 1 short, not longer than peduncle article 4 of antenna 2. Antenna 2 reaching end of pereonite 4 (seen in the animal, not dissected); peduncular articles narrow, articles 4 and 5 very long. Mandible left lacinia mobilis 5-dentate. Maxilliped palp article 2 with mediodistal lobe, article 4 absent.

Pereon. Gnathopod 1 sexually dimorphic; subchelate; posterior margin of carpus and propodus with rugose lobe; propodus subrectangular; palm transverse and short; dactylus longer than palm. Gnathopod 2 sexually dimorphic; subchelate; carpus distinct; posterior margin of propodus half of palmar length and lacking robust setae; palm acute, with a row of 7 robust setae and a round protuberance arcuate anteriorly near dactylus hinge; dactylus subequal in length to palm with a correspondence concavity to fit the palm protuberance. Coxae 2–4 wider than deep. Pereopods 3–7 cuspidactylate. Pereopod 4 short, reaching end of pereopod 3 merus; dactylus thickened and pinched posteriorly. Pereopod 6 shorter than pereopod 7, coxa angles rounded with about 10 marginal setae.

Pleon. Pleopods 1–3 well developed and biramous. Epimeron 1 anteroventral margin with 4 robust setae. Epimeron 2 subequal in length to epimeron 3. Epimeron 3 posterior margin smooth, posteroventral corner slightly produced, ventral margin without robust setae. Uropod 1 peduncle with two rows of 10 and 6 setae, distolateral robust seta present; inner ramus subequal in length to outer ramus with two rows of 4-6 marginal robust setae; outer ramus without robust setae. Uropod 2 inner ramus subequal in length to outer ramus; both rami with 4 marginal robust setae. Uropod 3 ramus about 60% of peduncle length with marginal and apical robust setae. Telson longer than broad, apically incised with marginal and apical robust setae, about 10 – 12 robust setae per lobe; dorsal midline entire.

Female (sexually dimorphic characters). Based on paralectotype, female, 14.2 mm, AM P69181. Gnathopod 1 simple; posterior margin of merus, carpus and propodus lacking rugose lobe. Gnathopod 2 mitten-shaped; basis expanded, about 1.7 x longer than wide; posterior margin of merus and propodus with rugose lobe .

Variations. Juvenile males (9.1–11.0 mm) with antennae 2 reaching the end of pereonite 2 (seen in the animal, not dissected). Gnathopod 2 with palmar protuberance not arcuate anteriorly.

Remarks. Since the work of Stebbing (1906a) T. terraereginae has been considered as a junior synonym of T. spinipalma as the former species was poorly described and illustrated. Study of the syntype series of T. terraereginae deposited in the Australian Museum, revealed important diagnostic characters that clearly distinguished this species from T. spinipalma as indicated in Table 1, and showed that T. terraereginae is a senior synonym of T. palawanensis . Morino & Miyamoto (1988) found some specimens of T. terraereginae (treated as T. palawanensis ) at Thursday Island, Australia and pointed some variations between the population from Philippines and Australia. However, as these authors stated, these differences were all size related as observed with the T. terraereginae population herein described. An exception is the eye shape described as “more variable and some are much broader than deep” for the Thursday Island population ( Morino & Miyamoto 1988). This variation in the eye shape was not observed in the present material, they all have a subsquare shape and the dorsal and ventral margins are truncate.

Distribution. Australia. Queensland: Thursday Island, Torres Strait ( Morino & Miyamoto 1988); Port Denison (current study); Palfrey Island, Lizard Island (current study). Philippine Islands. Palawan Island ( Morino & Miyamoto 1988).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Talorchestia terraereginae Haswell, 1880, lectotype, male, 12.9 mm, AM P69180, Port Denison, Queensland.