Parapallene famelica Flynn 1929

Parapallene famelica Flynn, 1929

(figure 8)

Parapallene famelica Flynn, 1929: 258–260, figures 6–9; Clark, 1963: 28–29, figure 14a–g; Stock, 1991: 194 (key).

Material examined. North Fitzroy Reef, 52 m, trawled with bryozoans and algae, 23 November 1999, one W (DPI sta. DW P422, coll. Arango and DPI Seagrass Monitoring Project). Mackay, 11 m, in rubble and algae, 2 February 2001, one W, two X (coll. DPI Seagrass Monitoring Project).

Description. Trunk 8.71 mm long and 2.21 mm wide; neck twice longer than wide, crurigers short, separated by about three times their diameter; ocular tubercle low, pointed; abdomen short, erect; proboscis with anterolateral angles. Scape onesegmented, as long as proboscis, with a small distal tubercle topped with a short spine; palm just shorter than the scape, globular, placed at right angle pointing downwards; large fingers, non-denticulate. Third and fourth segment of ovigers fused, long terminal claw with denticulations. Legs slender but strong, distal tubercle on femur and first tibia; cement glands not clearly distinguished, and not described before but four ventral darker spots were noticed in male femora. Four heel spines and six to eight sole spines. Claw more than two-thirds the length of the propodus.

Distribution. This species is only known from Lindeman Island where it was first found, and from Port Philip in Victoria, both Australian localities, one tropical, the other temperate, respectively. This record from Mackay, Queensland fits within the range of geographical and bathymetrical distribution known.

Remarks. This is the largest species of the present collection. Eight species of Parapallene are known for Australian waters. P. australiensis Hoek, 1881, P. haddoni Carpenter, 1892 and P. nietstrazi Loman, 1908, seem related to P. famelica, which can be especially distinguished by its more elongate form with long neck and widely separated crurigers and the absence of denticulate spines on the ovigers.