Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 383-385 (2002).

The distribution of the Western Australian pill millipede,Cynotelopus notabilis Jeekel (Sphaerotheriidae)

Barbara York Mainl, Mark S. Harvey2 and Julianne M. Waldock2

lDepartment of Zoology, University of Western Australia,Nedlands, Western Australia 6907, Australia

2Department of Terrestrial Invertebrates, Western Australian Museum,Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia 6000, Australid

Abstract - Cynotelopus notabilis Jeekel, the sole sphaerotheriid species to berecorded from Western Australia, occurs in high-rainfall habitats along thesouthern coast of south-western Australia. Given the ecological requirementsand low vagility of the species, it is likely to be prone to localized extinctionevents due to fire and habitat fragmentation.

INTRODUCTIONThe south-west forest region of Western Australia

has a rich Gondwanan invertebrate fauna (Hopperet al., 1996; Main and Main, 1991). However, somespecies have been described only recently and muchof the terrestrial fauna, including both rare andwidespread species, remains unnamed (Main,1996). An interesting genus of pill millipede,Cynotelopus, was recently described by ]eekel (1986)from three specimens collected in 1927 fromNornalup in the south-west. He stated that thespecimens and genus were of particular interestbecause they belonged to the family Sphaerother­iidae, a group which "was never before recordedfrom the western part of the continent." Thepurpose of this note is to correct this misconceptionand to comment on the biology and distribution ofthe genus.

The specimens that form the basis of this studyare lodged in the Western Australian Museum,Perth (WAM), while the type material, which hasnot been reexamined, is lodged in the SouthAustralian Museum, Adelaide (SAM).

HISTORICAL RECORDS

In his account of the biogeography of the WesternAustralian fauna, Nicholls (1933) recorded theoccurrence of pill millipedes (family Sphaerother­iidae of the order Sphaerotheriida) in the south­west from near Nornalup. He noted that they werefrom "under logs, in karri country, along the bankof the Deep River ... ". His opinion on theirtaxonomic affinity was that the species could not bereferred to either of the two genera ofsphaerotheriids already known from easternAustralia and Tasmania. Main (1954) and Main andEdward (1968) included the "Oniscomorpha"

(which comprises the Sphaerotheriida andGlomerida) in a key for which the primary purposewas use by naturalists and universityundergraduate students in field studies. At thattime the pill millipedes, which were listed underthe generic name Cyliosomella, were consideredsufficiently abundant and widespread through thekarri forest to be encountered by students andnaturalists. Since that time to the present,undergraduate students at the Department ofZoology of the University of Western Australiahave regularly examined specimens, mostlycollected from the Pemberton area, as part of theirarthropod systematics course.

Unfortunately, no representatives of the DeepRiver species were apparently retained in thecollections of either the University of WesternAustralia (Nicholls' institution) or deposited in theWestern Australian Museum, but there can be littledoubt that it represents the species later describedas Cynotelopus notabilis ]eekel, 1986. In view of theearly records of the millipedes and the perceptionthat they are abundant on the karri floor (mostlyin and under rotting logs) it is unfortunate thatthe only specimens lodged in the WesternAustralian Museum are recently collectedspecimens, the earliest of which was collected in1962. Thus the question now is whether the specieshas become rare in the western part of its assumedrange, or whether it is a case of a widespread,abundant species having been neglected in thepast by collectors. In order to assess the occurrenceand distribution of the species, it is clear that itneeds to be deliberately searched for and itsdistribution documented, along with observationson the viability of current habitats andpopulations. It is possible that some of Nicholls'Cynotelopus material was sent to overseas

384 B. York Main, M.S. Harvey, J. Waldock

Figure 1 Known distribution of Cynotelopus notabilisJeekel in south-western Australia, based uponthe specimens in the collections of theWestern Australian Museum. Collectionlocalities represented by solid circles.

museums or to K. Verhoeff, who described twomillipede species based upon specimensforwarded by Nicholls (Verhoeff, 1936). Inquiriesto the Museum fUr Naturkunde der Humboldt­Universitat, Berlin, failed to locate any specimensof Western Australian pill millipedes.

Material ExaminedAustralia: Western Australia: 1 ~, Denmark,

Pininger's Pimple, 34°58'5, 117°21'E, 17 July 1962,under rock on large granite tor, P. Cawthorn (WAM98/2120); 2 0, 1 ~, Torbay Hill, 35°05'5, 117°37'E,1978, B.Y. Main (WAM 98/1247-1249); 1 0, 1 2,same data except 30-31 January 1978 (WAM 98/1250-1251); 1 2, same data except 2 December 1982(WAM 98/1252); 1 ~, same data except 3 March1983 (WAM T40851); 1 ~, 1 juvenile, same dataexcept 5 March 1983 (WAM 98/1263-1264); 6 ~, 4juveniles, Torbay Hill, cottage site, 'Beck's Place', 19

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

Based upon recently collected material lodged inthe Western Australian Museum, we are able topresent further locality records for this enigmaticspecies and make some observations on itsdistribution and ecology.

Cynotelopus notabilis appears to possess a veryrestricted range and the only available specimen­based records are from localities stretching along115 km of the southern coast of Western Australiaranging from Tinglewood in the west, to TorbayHill in the east (Figure 1). It has not been found atany other localities despite the careful examinationof a wide range of moist habitats in south-westernAustralia over the past decade. Areas deliberatelysearched include Dog Pool on Shannon River(34°46'5, 116°22'E), Porongurups National Park (ca.34°42'5, 117°53'E) and Stirling Range National Park(ca. 34°25'5, 118°oo'E), sites that contain a plethoraof relictual taxa. Mr Brad Maryan (WesternAustralian Museum) has informed us of a largepopulation of C. notabilis at Mt Clare nearTinglewood, which was found in deep litter inunburnt forest in December 2000.

Spaerotheriids are generally known from deeplitter and under logs (Holloway, 1956; Jeekel, 1981),and our records include specimens from suchhabitats as well as under rocks. Specimens have beenfound under rocks associated with granite tors, fromunder logs and karri bark, and in leaf litter. OnTorbay Hill C. notabilis readily colonises a gardenadjacent to the bush and also pockets of disturbed,but unburnt, areas within the forest where it occursunder pieces of wood, debris and stones. Thematerial collected from West Cape Howe NationalPark by MSH and ]MW was found in very deeplitter in a patch of mixed karri/redgum eucalyptiAllocasuarina decussata forest which clearly hadremained unbumt for many years. The depth of the

February 1983, RY. Main (WAM 98/1253-1262); 1~, Torbay Hill, Lot 40,35°05'5, 117°37'E, 14 October1997, B.Y. Main (WAM 98/1265); 1 0, 3 ~, TorbayHill, W. of Torbay, 35°05'5, 117°37'E, 29 December1981, leaf litter of karri forest, G.W. Kendrick(WAM 98/2121-2124); 1 juvenile, Walpole­Nornalup National Park, Tinglewood, 35°00'5,116°38'E, 7 January 1999, under karri bark, S.L. Judd(WAM 99/2538); 3 0, 3 2, 6 juveniles, West CapeHowe National Park, 35°06'5, 117°37'E, 26 April1990, M.5. Harvey, J.M. Waldock (WAM 98/1266­1277); 10 0, 8 ~, 10 juveniles, West Cape HoweNational Park, S. of Torbay Hill, 35°05'5, 117°38'E,27 March 1993, M.S. Harvey, J.M. Waldock (WAM98/1279-1307); 2 ~, Williarn Bay National Park,granite rocks at northern end of Petrified Forest, onsandy rocky scree, 35°01'5, 117°09'E, 26 May 1996,F. Malcolm (WAM 98/1308-1309).

11..117"30'""""'"116'

IDENTITY

Pill millipedes are immediately distinguishablefrom other millipedes by their extremely stout bodythat is capable of rolling into a tight ball (Harveyand Yen, 1989). Males of Cynotelopus notabilis differfrom those of other sphaerotheriids in the form ofthe pygidium, which is concave and bears a smallhook-like structure (Figure 3; Jeekel, 1986). Thegonopods of males from Torbay Hill and West CapeHowe National Park were compared with theillustrations of the holotype provided by Jeekel(1986). No differences could be detected, and weare confident that all populations sampledrepresent a single species.

Distribution of Cynotelopus notabilis 385

Figures 2-3 Cynotelapus notabilis: 2, female (left) and male (right), in coiled position; 3, adult male showing the peculiarterminal segment typical of the species.

litter and the lack of burning probably explains thehigh abundance of C. notabilis at this site which raisesthe distinct possibility that fire - both natural andhuman-induced - plays a significant role in thedistribution of C. notabilis. Like many othermillipedes, pill millipedes lack any significantdispersive stage and are vulnerable to localizedextinction events, especially when the availablehabitat is severely disrupted by land clearing.

The bulk of the known range of C. notabilis occurswithin the conservation estate of Western Australia,including three National Parks - Walpole­Nornalup, William Bay and West Cape Howe - butthere are no available data on the persistence ofpopulations after prescribed bums, which occur atfrequent intervals in most Western Australianforests.

ACKNO~EDGEMENTS

We gratefully thank Bob Mesibov for histhoughtful comments on a draft of the manuscript,Simon Judd for successfully searching for sphaero­theriids in south-western Australia, Jason Dunlopfor searching for Western Australian sphaero­theriids in the Museum fur Naturkunde derHumboldt-Universitat (Berlin) collection, and BradMaryan for alerting us to the Tinglewoodpopulation.

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illustrated guide to Australia's terrestrial invertebrates.Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Holloway, B.A (1956). Revision of the New Zealand pillmillipedes (Oniscomorpha, Sphaerotheridae).Transactions of the Royal Society ofNew Zealand 84: 431­446.

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Manuscript received 8 September 2000; accepted 7 March2001.