Ginglymodesmus Mesibov, 2005, n. gen.

Ginglymodesmus n. gen.

Type species: Ginglymodesmus tasmanianus n. sp.

Diagnosis: Small (5­6 mm long) dalodesmids with a head + 19 segments; high, smooth paranota with rounded corners; reduced tergites 2, 3 and 4; no lateral pit on the underside of segment 2; long, slender gonopod telopodites reaching legpair 3 when retracted, in two sections more or less equal in length, the distal section pivoting around a hinge­like structure.

Etymology: Greek ginglymos (“hinge”) + ­ desmus (commonly used combining form for Polydesmida), for the hinge­like structure on the gonopod telopodite; masculine.

Remarks: I am currently unable to identify females of any of the Ginglymodesmus species, which co­occur with very similar dalodesmids in other genera.

Like dalodesmids in at least four other Tasmanian genera (Mesibov 1997, 2003a, 2003b, 2004), the three known species of Ginglymodesmus seem to have a tightly fitted mosaic distribution (Fig. 5), with G. penelopae and G. tasmanianus recorded from sites only 10 km apart near the town of Waratah. Documenting the mosaic in detail would be difficult. Ginglymodesmus are very hard to find in the field and may be naturally uncommon. The arc­like shape of the G. tasmanianus distribution (Fig. 5) is possibly a collecting artifact, as the species may occur further south in the relatively little­sampled central western districts.