Epigastrina loongana Rix & Harvey 2010, sp. n.

Epigastrina loongana Rix & Harvey, sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: AEFBBEA7-2BF1-45B1-A755-FFD3F153ED95

Figs 63D, 64, 213

Type material. Holotype female: Mostyn Hardy Cave (Old Tourist Cave) (L-4), Loongana karst, Tasmania, Australia, dark zone, 41°25'S, 146°00'E, 22.II.1969, A. & T. Goede (AMS KS72935).

Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, taken from the type locality.

Diagnosis. Females of Epigastrina loongana can be distinguished from all other described congeners by the presence of only six reduced eyes (Fig. 64B). Males are unknown.

Description. Holotype female: Total length 1.10. Carapace 0.49 long, 0.40 wide. Abdomen 0.69 long, 0.49 wide. Leg I femur 0.41. Cephalothorax, legs very pale tanyellow; abdomen pale cream, with darker tan-yellow epigyne. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Six reduced eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME absent; PME separated by twice their own diameter. Chelicerae without bulging anterior projections; promargin without peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.84); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, covered with hair-like setae; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalp entire, five-segmented. Epigyne heavily sclerotised externally, with distinctive, wedge-shaped epigastric plate (Fig. 64C); spermathecae globular, connecting to parallel, filiform insemination and fertilisation ducts (Fig. 63D).

Distribution. Known only from Mostyn Hardy Cave in the Loongana karst of north-central Tasmania (Fig. 213).

Remarks. Epigastrina loongana is a troglomorphic species with reduced eyes, otherwise very similar to E. fulva and E. typhlops.