Leptochiton liratus

Leptochiton liratus (H. Adams & Angas, 1864) (Figures 4–6) Lepidopleurus liratus H. Adams & Angas 1864: 192; Ashby 1921: 155; 1923: 218, pl. 16, fig. 1; 1928: 175. Lepidopleurus inquinatus; Sykes 1896: 86, pl. 6, fig. 4; Bednall 1897: 141, non Chiton inquinatus Reeve, 1847. Lepidopleurus profundus May 1923: pl. 14, fig. 2; Ashby 1927: 94, non Lepidopleurus profundus Ashby, 1923: 221, pl. 16, figs. 2, 2a [= Leptochiton collusor (Iredale & Hull, 1925)]. Terenochiton liratus; Iredale & Hull 1925: 342, pl. 39, fig. 4; Cotton & Godfrey 1940: 477, fig. 458; Macpherson & Gabriel 1962: 3; Cotton 1964: 17, fig. 5. Parachiton profundus; Iredale & Hull 1925: 346, pl. 39, fig. 21. Leptochiton (Leptochiton) liratus; Kaas & Van Belle 1985: 136, fig. 60, map 20; Gowlett-Holmes 2001: 74. Leptochiton liratus; Sirenko 2020: 421, figs. 22, 23, 46D. Type material. Neotype (AM C. 10410), designated by Iredale & Hull (1925). Type locality. South Australia, Yorke Peninsula, Hardwicke Bay. Material examined. Tasmania, D’Entrecasteaux Channel, 43°13’S, 147°28’E, 18 m, 2 spms, BL 9.5 –10.0 mm, (TMAG, E 3035), 1910, coll D.L. May. Remarks. The studied two specimens were collected and identified by D.L. May as a new species Lepidopleurus profundus May, 1923. Kaas & Van Belle (1985) identified them as Leptochiton liratus. The examination under an electron microscope revealed that the dorsal scales of these specimens are longer and pointed. They are similar to the needle-like spicules of the very similar species L. collusor (Iredale & Hull, 1925), while the dorsal scales of L. liratus have a different shape (see Kaas & Van Belle 1985). The identification as L. liratus by Kaas & Van Belle (1985) is accepted herein until the validity L. liratus and L. collusor is clarified.Published as part of Sirenko, Boris, 2023, A small collection of rare and new chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, pp. 359-392 in Zootaxa 5325 (3) on pages 360-365, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5325.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/824700