“Belura pillara sp. nov.
Material examined. 48 juveniles. 6 mancas. 1 male; to 3.5 mm.
Holotype: Bass Strait, -5 km S of Wilsons Promontory, (39°49.5'S, 146°18.5E I. 82 m, shell-brvozoan mud, Smith-McIntyre grab, G.C.B. Poore et al. on RV "Tangaroa", 13 Nov 1981 (stn BSS-158), NNIV J15001. juvenile, 3.5 mm (with 2 slides).
Paratypes: Type locality. NIV J15002 (male. with 2 slides), NMV J15003 (10 juveniles. with 1 slide) 315004 (3 mancas), AM P37926 (5 juveniles). CSNI 211448 (5 juveniles).
Other material: Bass Strait. Type locality (epibenthic sled sample), NMV J15005 (2): Eastern slope (39'28.2'S, 148°52.4), 841 m, muddy sand, naturalist's, dredge, G.C.B. Poore on HMAS "Kimbla", 29 Mar 19-9 Ism BSS-37), NMV J15006 (1 post-manta). S of Point Hicks (38'17.7'S, 149°11.3'E), 400 m, coarse sand and gravel, epibenthic sled, M. Gomon et al. on RV "Franklin". 24 Jul 1986 (stn SLOPE-40), NMV J14466 (2). Eastern Gippsland (37'59'S, 148°27'E), 51 m, muddy sand (stn BSS-20-), NMV JI5007(9); (37°50'S, 148°40'E), 26 m, medium sand (stn BSS-208), NMV J15008(2)— both epibenthic sled, M. Gomon and R. Wilson on FV "Silver Gull", 30 Jul 1983.
Vic. Western Port, off Crib Point (38°21'S, 145'14'E), 10-19 m, sandy sediments, 1964-1972 (CPBS stations), NMV J15009-J15016 (10 specimens). Western Port, Western Entrance, 10-23 m, sandy sediments, 1974: stn WBES1742, NMV J15017 (3); stn WBES-1748, J15018 (1)
Description. Body 18 times as long as wide, colourless. Head about as wide as long, without eyes. Antenna 1 articles 1, 2 and 3 with 1, 2, 0 brush-setae respectively; flagellum of 3 articles, first with brush-seta, last with 1 aesthetasc, 1 plumose seta, 1 simple seta. Antenna 2 articles 4 and 5 with brush-setae, article 5 with ventral plumose setae of which base is swollen; flagellum of 8 articles.
Mandible with bluntly toothed incisor; lamina dentata of 3 finely denticulate plates, most distal with additional coarser teeth; molar process an articulating spine with row of fine denticles along its length and longer teeth at apex; palp a narrow article with long apical seta. Maxilla 1 with 7 apical setae. Maxilliped with short endite; palp a single plate with 1 mesial, 1 lateral and 4 distal setae.
Pereopod 1 carpus slightly produced posterodistally; propodus elongate, about 2.5 times as long as wide; palm axial with 2 proximal pectinate setae, 2 short simple setae, and 2 long and 1 short setae distally; 3 mesial setae. Pereopod 2 carpus slightly produced posterodistally; propodus almost twice as long as wide; palm oblique with pectinate setae, 2 short setae proximally, 1 short and1 longer setae distally. Pereopod 3 merus and carpus acutely produced posterodistally; propodus almost twice as long as wide; palm oblique with pectinate setae, 2 short setae proximally, 1 short and 1 longer setae distally. Pereopod 3 merus and carpus acutely produced posterodistally; propodus 1.4 times as long as wide, palm straight. Pereopods 4-7 with few posterior setae; merus with digitiform denticles posteriorly; palm sinuous, unarmed; propodus of pereopods 5-7 with 2 distomesial spines.
Pleopod 1 peduncle with 2 setae on mesial lobe; endopod with 1 distal seta; exopod half length of endopod, with 13 marginal plumose setae. Pleopods 2-5 similar to first. Pleonal epimera 1-4 with 2 and epimeron 5 with 1 marginal plumose setae.
Uropodal peduncle and endopod fused, with broad ventromesial shelf bearing 3 large brush-setae in distal concavity; apex rounded, with 3 finer brush-setae and 10 simple setae; exopods overlapping, roughly semicircular, little longer than wide, with 8 setae distally. Telson not reaching to uropodal apices, widest proximally, narrowing gradually to 0.8 length, then abruptly narrower to apical spike, 2 apical setae.
Male. Antenna 1 flagellum of 5 articles each bearing about 6 aesthetascs. Pereopod 1 similar to juvenile except mesial propodal setae. Pereopod 2 carpus strongly produced posterodistally, with apical setae; palm more transverse. Pleopod 1 peduncle more rectangular; exopod almost as long as endopod. Pleopod 2 with narrow endopod with 2 apical spines; appendix masculina exceeding endopod, broad, apically curved. Pleopods 2-5 exopods 'of a single article.
Distribution. Victoria (Western Port only) and Bass Strait, coarse shelly sediments, 10-841 m.
Remarks. Belura pillara differs from B. acuticauda (George and Negoescu) from the South Atlantic, the only other species in the genus, in small ways. Pereopods 1 and 2, the pleopods and the telson are more elongate. The maxilliped bears a lateral seta not shown in B. acuticuda but this seta is usual in many anthurideans.”
(Poore & Lew et al, 1988: 172-176)
