Genus Austrodecus Hodgson, 1907

Museums

Regional Maps

• Austrodecus Hodgson, T.V. 1907. Pycnogonida. National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904. Reports of the National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904, Natural History. 3. 1-72 pp. [52].

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Channel Country (CHC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Flinders (FLI), King (KIN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP)

IMCRA

Tasmania Province (10), Southeast Transition (11), Central Eastern Province (12), Tasman Basin Province (13), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41), Southern Province (8), West Tasmania Transition (9)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Afrotropical Region

• Mauritius

Antarctic Region

• Antarctica
• Subantarctic Islands
  • Kerguélen Island

Australian Region

• Antipodean Islands
• Australia
  • 200 m bathymetric: Bass Strait, Lower E coast, Tas. Coast
  • 200 mile fishing zone: S oceanic
  • New South Wales: SE oceanic
  • Queensland: Great Barrier Reef
  • Tasmania: S oceanic, SE oceanic
  • Victoria: SE oceanic
• New Zealand

Neotropical Region

• Falkland Islands

Oriental Region

• Ryukyu Islands (= Nansei Shoto)

Palaearctic Region

• Japan

Diagnosis

Species tiny, trunk segmented, with or without median tubercles, lateral processes very short, sometimes with tubercles; ocular tubercle tall, anterior-pointing, truncate cone with eyes at tip; proboscis a down-curved pipette with annulations; chelifores lacking; palps 5-6-segmented arising from anterolateral projections of cephalic segment, distal segments sometimes coalesced; ovigers reduced or tiny, not functional, no terminal claw; legs slender, coxae with or without tubercles, propodus usually longer than tibia 2, no heel, claw short, with or without auxiliaries. cement gland outlet a ventral cone or tube.

 

Taxonomic Notes

The genus Austrodecus does not fit comfortably within the Platypus database format at this time. Like so many of the other pycnogonid genera, it is badly in need of extensive revision. Currently, Austrodecus has two valid subgenera (Microdecus and Tubidecus) and four Sections (equivalent to subgenera?). In each case, the Sections are named for a representative species: A. glaciale Section, A. breviceps Section, A. tristanense Section, and A. gordonae Section. An additional three species (none from the Australian region) are placed into a Section Unknown category (Child,1994, p. 51).