A reassessment of the pycnogonid genus Stylopallene (Arthropoda, Callipallenidae) with description of a new genus
Author
Staples, David A.
text
Memoirs of Museum Victoria
2014
72
121
129
journal article
1447-2554
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:44100BE0-6002-4467-B58F-1B104735AE2F
Stylopallene tubirostris
Clark, 1963
Stylopallene tubirostris
.
Clark, 1963: 40-42
—
Child, 1975: 15- 16
—
Staples, 1997: 1055
—
Bamber, 2005: 334
—
Arango and Brenneis, 2013: 431
Siphopallene tubirostris
Stock, 1968: 45-46
Siphopallene tubirostrum
Stock, 1973b: 96
Remarks.
The leg span is typically about
25 mm
. The lateral processes are either touching or narrowly separated at their bases. The first and second processes are often more widely spaced than the remainder.
Clark (1963)
recorded the length of the cephalon as being equal to the remaining three segments but in the specimens examined the cephalon is clearly longer (
fig. 3A
). The syringe-like distal part of the proboscis is about as long as the basal part and terminates in three short, chitinous jaws. The abdomen is longer and narrower than figured by
Clark (1963
fig. 21 A). The oviger spines are variably compound with 4-5 teeth mainly confined to the upper margin.
One male
examined carried
15 eggs
on a single oviger.
This species has been recorded on the arborescent bryozoans
Amathia tortuosa
Tenison-Woods, 1880
and
A. woodsi
Goldstein, 1879
.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that this species is most common in eastern
Victoria
and southern
New South Wales
.
Distribution.
Yanchep Reef, Esperance Bay,
Western Australia
to Coffs Harbour,
New South Wales
and Bass Strait,
Tasmania
. Tide pools to
65m
depth.
Discussion.
The body markings of
S. tubirostris
are much the same as in
S. longicauda
and
S
.
cheilorhynchus
but distinguished by a black shoulder band or saddle that runs through the ocular tubercle and by the dark chelifore scapes (
fig. 3A, E
). The cephalon is otherwise a pale colour. By and large the markings are constant and provide a useful initial diagnostic character.
Along with other species of
Stylopallene
some specimens have been described as having a pink tinge although this can often be attributed to epiphytic coralline algae (
fig. 3E
).