Parapagurus pilosimanus Smith, 1879

De Matos-Pita, Susana S. & Ramil, Fran, 2015, Hermit crabs (Decapoda: Crustacea) from deep Mauritanian waters (NW Africa) with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 3926 (2), pp. 151-190 : 182-185

Parapagurus pilosimanus Smith, 1879

( Fig. 21 )

Parapagurus pilosimanus Smith, 1879: 51 .

Parapagurus pilosimanus . — Lemaitre, 1986: 529, figs. 1C, D, 3A–E, 4C, D, 5E, F, 6I, J, 7C, G, 8H, 9F–H.— Lemaitre, 1990: 13, figs. 3, 4, 5A, 6, 39A, B (lit.).— Jones & Brewer, 2012: 105 ( Mauritania, 1400–1500 m).— Cardoso & Lemaitre, 2012: 597, fig. 4 (South Atlantic, 997 m).

Parapagurus pilosimanus: García Raso, 1996: 739 (In part).

Material examined. MU08, 1308 m, (4); MU09, 1412 m, (2).

Males: 6.34–12.65 mm, females: 7.44–9.10 mm

Habitat. Reported on mud, mud with stones, muddy sand, sand, broken shells, corals and pumice bottoms, inhabiting gastropod shells of genera Fussus, Natica and Trophon and also a scaphopod shell of Dentalium (see A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier 1900). A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier (1900) reported the association with Epizoanthus and actinians, and Urzelai et al. (1990) with Epizoanthus paguriphilus Verrill, 1883 . Williams & McDermott (2004) reported the platyhelminthe Ectocotyla hirudo (Levinsen, 1879) living in the shell and the bryozoan Arachnoidella dhondti (Franzén & Sandberg, 2001) over the pereiopods of the hermit crab.

Our material was captured on sandy mud, muddy sand and sandy bottoms, always in carcinoecia of Epizoanthus paguriphilus .

Distribution. Eastern Atlantic, from southwest of Iceland and Faeroe Islands to the Gulf of Guinea, and in Tristan da Cunha Island; western Atlantic, from off Nova Scotia ( Canada) to Guyana ( Lemaitre 1989, 1990). The species was also reported from Walvis Ridge ( Cardoso & Lemaitre 2012).

The recorded depth range is between 102 and 3864 m, but the species is mainly reported from 400 to 1400 m ( Lemaitre 1989). Our specimens were mostly captured between 1100 and 1600 m. In the same area, recent remote operated vehicle (ROV) observations located P. pilosimanus and its symbiont zoanthid Epizoanthus paguriphilus at 1400–1500 m depth ( Jones & Brewer 2012).

Remarks. Our specimens concur with the descriptions and figures given by Lemaitre (1986, 1989) and can be distinguished from other allied species in the area by its unarmed mesial and lateral faces of meri, carpi and propodi of the ambulatory pereiopods; the symmetrical posterior lobes of the telson; and the presence of 2 or 3 irregular rows of conical scales on the propodal rasp of the fourth pereiopods.

Figures

FIGURE 21. Parapagurus pilosimanus Smith, 1879. Female, sl: 7.44 mm (MU 08; UVIGOBA 3 04514): A, shield and cephalic appendages. B, chelipeds: left, dorsomesial view, right, lateral view. Scale: A – B, 5 mm.