Bassianobdella Ingram ! Sp . Nov . , From

Differs from B. victoriae in having a wide marginal black band including the somita1 sense organs of the supramarginal and marginal lines, and continuous with the black venter. ----------.-----Two specimens of an aquatic jawed sanguivorous leech from Tasmania, have a linear relationship of the organs on the anterior region of the male paired ducts, elongate cylindrical ejaculatory bulbs, aU-shape caecate vagina with subequal limbs, the procurrent limb terminating with a vaginal duct, and accordingly (Richardson, 1970) are members of the bassianobdellid group in the F. Richardsonianidae of the Australian Region. The vaginal duct is short, the common oviduct not intimately associated with it, both as in B. victoriae, but in the Tasmanian leech, the common oviduct is long, subeql1al in length to the pro current limb of the vagina, differing from victoriae in whicb the common oviduct is shorter than this limb. A common oviduct of unusual length has been noted elsewhere (v. EurallOphila. Richardson J969a) and regarded as possibly generic in value. On the evidence here, it appears to he no more than specific, The short vaginal duct contrasting to the long and strongly ml1sclllarized duct in the Torresian species, continues to have value at the generic leveL The previollsly known bassianobdellids have a median black and three pair of dark longitudinal bands, the outermost bands extending along the line of the supramarginal sense organs, are defined medially by a pale stripe in the intermediate field and laterally by a pale marginal stripe which extends across the supramarginal and submarginal fields and includes the marginal sense organs. In the Torresian species, the pale marginal stripe is sharply separated in the ventral intermediate field from the dark venter. In B, victoriae, the pale marginal stripe is continuous with the pale venter. In the Tasmanian specimens, the margin is black, includes both the supramarginal and marginal sense organs, and is continuous with the black venter. The Tasmanian specimens accordingly show dorsal dark bands only as the median, the inner and middle paired bands of the other known bassianobdellids, the outer paired bands of those leeches being included here in the marginal band which is topographically much wider in the Tasmanian leech. Both specimens 'Of the Tasmanian leech are closely :cimilar morphologically, and in their morphological detail so closely rescmble B. vietoriae that at this time it would not be possible on morphological grounds to identify to species, specimens totally lacking colour and pattern. In the practice of R. Blanchard, this perm its recognition of only one species.