Anoplodactylus godfreyensis, Staples, 2025

Staples, David A., 2025, Pycnogonids, ‘ sea-spiders’ (Arthropoda, Pycnogonida) selected from the collections of the South Australian Museum with descriptions of new species and review of the genus Pallenella., Memoirs of Museum Victoria 84, pp. 1-47 : 7-8

Anoplodactylus godfreyensis n. sp.

Figure 3a–h. Plate 3a–d u r n:lsid:z o oba n k.org:a ct:A6D0 0F6 F-4F8 0 - 4 6C8 -8E89-

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Material examined. Holotype, male ( SAMA E9447 ). ARA92, Southeast Cape Thomas, between Godfrey Islands , very soft rock, reef, algae, sand 3–7 m, W. Zeidler, K. Gowlett-Holmes, 16 Feb 1989.

Paratypes. Five females, three males, two juveniles ( SAMA E9448 ). Same collection data as holotype .

Diagnosis. Trunk without tubercles, neck strongly raised, overreaching anterior margin of proboscis, proboscis widest at about one-third length. Eye tubercle placed near anterior margin of cephalon, slightly taller than basal width. Palp buds not evident. Chela fingers gaping, strongly curved, teeth absent. Legs without prominent processes or tubercles, propodal lamina absent, main claw long, reaching to base of heel when folded, auxiliary claws absent.

Description. Holotype, male. Leg span about 11.0 mm. Trunk without tubercles, segmentation line between segments 3 and 4 absent, lateral processes each with several tiny, almost indiscernible, dorsodistal setae, processes 1 and 2 separated by about one-third basal width, processes 2 and 3 separated by less than one-quarter basal width and segments 3 and 4 separated by a lesser distance. Anterior margin of cephalon cleft, divided by median cuticular line extending to base of eye tubercle, neck strongly raised, overreaching proximal margin of proboscis.

Eye tubercle placed close to anterior margin of cephalon, slightly taller than basal width, tapered to rounded tip, four eyes, tiny lateral sense organs placed about level with top of eyes.

Proboscis carried horizontally, length slightly less than 2.5 times maximum width, widest at about one-third length, divided by three longitudinal cuticular lines each extending full length of ventral and lateral surfaces, proximal ventral surface directed downward to about one-third length, then narrowing before expanding to bulbous distal part (fig. 3c., plate 3B), lips protruding, forming narrow triradial flanges around mouth opening.

Chelifore scapes, diverging from narrowly separated bases, each scape expanded distally, few dorsodistal setae; chelae directed inwards, fingers smooth, strongly curved, gaping, touching at tips (fig. 3e).

Palp buds not evident.

Oviger (fig. 3d) six-segmented, implanted on ventral surface of first lateral processes, segment 3 longest, segments 3–6 decreasing in length, segments 4 and 5 with single, robust inwardly-curved simple spine on inner margins, spine on segment 5 placed at about one-third length, spine on segment 4 placed distally, segments 2–6 with several short setae on inner and outer surfaces, segment 6 with a cluster of about six slender setae on inner surface.

Anal tubercle upright, short, height about 1.5 times basal width.

Legs (fig. 3f, plate 3d) without prominent processes or tubercles, setae random, sparse; second coxa 1.8 times length of coxa 1, coxae 1 and 3 about equal length, coxa 2 with low dorsal papilla proximal to mid-point; femur longest segment, a little longer than first tibia which is longer than tibia 2, femur dorsal surface with single row of about seven cement glands opening through short ducts (fig. 3g), single long dorsodistal seta; propodal heel well developed, four heel spines, proximal two spines largest, inline, distal pair side-by-side, ten sole spines plus distal setae, no lamina, main claw, slender, reaching to base of heel when folded, auxiliary claws not present. Gonopore not evident.

Female. Apart from the absence of ovigers, and other sexually dimorphic characters, there are no appreciable differences between the sexes. Alar processes absent.

Measurements of holotype (mm). Trunk length (frontal margin of cephalic segment to tip of fourth lateral processes), 1.83; width across second lateral processes, 1.04; scape 0.51: proboscis length (lateral), 0.98; proboscis greatest diameter; 0.40. Oviger: seg. 1, 0.21; seg. 2, 0.48: seg. 3, 0.67; seg. 4, 0.35; seg. 5; 0.25; seg. 6, 0.14. Third leg: coxa 1, 0.32; coxa 2, 0.57; coxa 3, 0.31; femur, 1.08; tibia 1, 0.98; tibia 2, 0.85; tarsus, 0.11; propodus, 0.72; claw, 0.50.

Etymology. Named after the type locality, Godfrey Islands, South Australia.

Remarks. At first glance this species has much in common with A. bourboni Muller, 1990 from Réunion Island with which it shares a similar arrangement of femoral cement gland ducts. That species differs principally in having auxiliary claws, taller eye and anal tubercles, and possession of a propodal lamina. The proportions of the oviger are also considerably different. No other species of Anoplodactylus shares in combination, a narrow neck that overreaches the base of the proboscis, the absence of auxiliary claws, the absence of prominent tubercles on the lateral processes, the absence of a propodal lamina and smooth chela fingers. In some specimens, remnants of green gut contents remain. Darker pigmentation on sections of the leg segments suggests the presence of markings in life.