Pseudopallene brevicephala Staples 2008

Pseudopallene brevicephala Staples, 2008 Figs. 2 E, 3 G, 9 A–D Material examined: (S 922219) 1 sub-adult (TAS 28), 26 Jan 2007, Fortescue Bay, 21 m depth in kelp forest; 1 female (PSE 7), 1 male (PSE 7 a), 2 sub-adults (PSE 7 b, PSE 12), (S 92221) 2 post-embryonic stages (PSE 12 a, b) (no DNA available), Nov- 26 2009, Patterson Arch, Eaglehawk Neck, 10–15 m depth, on Orthoscuticella spp; 3 postembryonic stages (PSE 9, PSE 9 a, b), Nov- 22 2009, Boulder Point, 5–10 m depth. Remarks: The adult morphology of the Tasmanian specimens corresponds to the species description based on material from South Australia (Staples 2008), especially the diagnostic short neck (Fig. 9 A), the distinct longitudinal cuticular division line on the cephalon (Fig. 9 B), the oviger compound spine count (8: 7: 6: 6 in specimen PSE 7) (Fig. 9 C) and the propodus configuration (Fig. 9 D). One character to add to the description of the species is the uniform red-orange colour on body and legs in live adults, sub-adults and post-embryonic stages at least for the Tasmanian specimens (Fig. 2 E). Clark (1963) described P. dubia based on material from Port Arthur, Tasmania, with different types of chela shapes. Some specimens had a characteristic delicately-curved tube-like elongation of the movable finger, whereas others were lacking this feature. Staples (2005) already proved the P. dubia specimens to represent late developmental stages of Pseudopallene rather than fully grown adults, without assigning them to a species. So far, post-embryonic stages of different Pseudopallene species have been shown to exhibit the tube-like projection of the movable chela finger, e.g., in P. watsonae Staples, 2005 or in P. constricta sp. nov. (see below, see also Brenneis et al. 2011 b). A detailed morphological description of our genetically identified orange-red post-embryonic stages of P. brevicephala from Tasmanian is still underway. However, first observations have shown that the movable chela finger of these individuals lacks the distal tube-like extension, similar to some of the specimens investigated by Clark (1963). This strongly indicates that (1) Clark confounded developmental stages of different species, his material probably including P. brevicephala besides other congeners and that (2) those post-embryonic stages having been cautiously assigned to P. brevicephala by Staples (2008) might in fact belong to another species, since they exhibit the distinctive tube-like elongation of the movable chela finger. This is the first record of P. brevicephala from Tasmania.Published as part of Arango, Claudia P. & Brenneis, Georg, 2013, New species of Australian Pseudopallene (Pycnogonida: Callipallenidae) based on live colouration, morphology and DNA, pp. 401-436 in Zootaxa 3616 (5) on page 418, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3616.5.1, http://zenodo.org/record/22012