Ammothella krappi, Sabroux & Hassanin & Corbari, 2022

Sabroux, Romain, Hassanin, Alexandre & Corbari, Laure, 2022, Sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) collected during the Madibenthos Expedition from Martinique shallow waters, European Journal of Taxonomy 851 (1), pp. 1-141 : 17-20

Ammothella krappi sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:016C5DC5-7B37-4A2F-B4CC-3176173A3C65

Fig. 3

Ammothella sp. 1 – Sabroux et al. 2019b (pro parte): 1522, 1525, 1531, tab. 1, figs 3, 5.

Material examined

Holotype MARTINIQUE • ♂; N of Le Lorrain , 14°55.1ʹ N, 61°02.4ʹ W; depth 63 m, 21 Sep. 2016; st. AD257, MNHN-IU-2016-1132/ MK411059 .

Paratypes MARTINIQUE • 2 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ gr.; Le Prêcheur; 14°49.1ʹ N, 61°13.8ʹ W; depth 20–25 m; 8 Oct. 2016; st. AS 576; MNHN-IU-2016-1085 • 1 ♀ gr.; SW of Vétiver ; 14°37.6ʹ N, 61°08.6ʹ W; depth 66 m; 7 Oct. 2016; st. AD612; MNHN-IU-2016-1113/ MK411052 • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; MNHN-IU-2016-1290 • 1 ♂; Trois Rivières ; 14°27.5ʹ N, 60°58.2ʹ W; depth 17 m; 9 Oct. 2016; st. AB578; MNHN-IU-2016-1168/ MK411069 • 1 ♂; Macouba; 14°55.1ʹ N, 61°09ʹ W; depth 80 m; 27 Sep. 2016; st. AD274; MNHN-IU-2016-1243 • 1 ♂; Trois Rivières; 14°27.5ʹ N, 60°58.2ʹ W; depth 17–19 m; 9 Oct. 2016; st. AS 579; MNHN-IU-2016-1281 • 1 ♀, 1 ♀ gr.; Le Prêcheur; 14°48.5ʹ N, 61°13.8ʹ W; depth 0–56 m; 8 Oct. 2016; st. AS 574; MNHN-IU-2016-1287 • 1 ♂, 1 ♀ gr., 1 juv.; Baie de St-Pierre ; 14°44.5ʹ N, 61°10.8ʹ W; depth 44–47 m; 8 Oct. 2016; st. AS 572; MNHN-IU-2019-3395 .

Etymology

Latinized name, 2 nd decl. (masc.), genitive singular. This species is named after Franz Krapp, who passed away in early 2022. Through this dedication, we wish to express not only our recognition of his important contribution to pycnogonid taxonomy, but also in memory of the great help he was to the first author.

Description (holotype, ♂, MNHN-IU-2016-1132)

BODY. Trunk completely segmented; cuticle smooth. No dorsomedian ornamentation. Ocular tubercle long, about 8.5 times as long as base width, distal part broad and round, carrying pigmented eyes, blunt tip and 2 small, rounded lateral sense organs. Lateral processes about 3 times as long as base width, well separated by more than their own diameter, sometimes carrying setae.

PROBOScIS. Pyriform with slender elongated base, movable, longer than chelifore or trunk, with blunt tip.

ABDOMEN. Long, segmented at base, not extending beyond coxa 2, distal part inflated, then tapering at anus. Dorsally with club-shaped setae and with simple setae medially and distally.

CHELIFORE. 3-articled. Scape 2-articled, 1 st scape article about half as long as 2 nd. 2 nd article long, trumpet-shaped, carrying simple and club-shaped setae. Chela reduced as rounded buds, with finger and distal seta on outer side.

PALP. 9-articled, carrying many setae mostly on last 5 articles. 1 st article shortest, 2 nd article slightly shorter than 4 th. 3 rd article about as long as wide. 4 th article longest, about as long as 2 nd, about 6 times as long as wide, with scarce setae. 5 th article about 2.5 times as long as wide. 6 th article shorter than 5 th and twice as long as 8 th, about 4.5 times as long as wide. 7 th to 9 th articles shorter than 6 th, 9 th longest among them.

OvIGER. 10-articled, with scarce setae. 1 st article about as long as wide, 2 nd about 7 times as long as wide, 3 rd about 3 times. 4 th article as long as 2 nd but slenderer, slightly curved. 5 th article about ⅔ of length of 4 th article. 7 th article longest within striglis, about as long as 6 th, 10 th shortest. Strigilis spines compound, formula 2:1:1:2.

LEGS. Slender, carrying several short, simple and club-shaped setae, some of them in bouquet. Coxa 1 about 5/4 as long as wide, with two dorsodistal club-shaped setae and often two tiny normal setae laterally. Coxa 2 longer than coxae 1 and 3 together. Coxa 3 about 3 times as long as wide. Femur about 8 times as long as wide, cement gland opening standing on distal margin on dorsal surface, as very long tube about half as long as femur. Tibia 1 longest. Tibia 2 slenderer, slightly shorter than tibia 1 but longer than femur. Tarsus short, trapezoid. Propodus about 0.4 times as long as tibia 2, with 3 large basal spines, and smaller spines and setae on distal half of sole; main claw about half as long as propodus; auxiliary claws present, thinner, more than ⅘ as long as main claw.

MEASUREMENTS (mm). Trunk 0.52; abdomen 0.78; proboscis 0.92; chelifore 0.56; coxa 1 0.17; coxa 2 0.53; coxa 3 0.26; femur 0.91; tibia 1 1.13; tibia 2 0.96; tarsus 0.06; propodus 0.37; main claw 0.19.

Sexual dimorphism

Oviger articles more elongated in males, legs inflated in mature females.

Individual variability

Ocular tubercle size from 7 to 9 times as long as base width. Number of ovigeral spines variable, 1 to 4 on 1 st strigilis article, and 1 or 2 on 2 nd –3 rd strigilis articles.

Remarks

This species is distinguished from most other species of Ammothella using the same criteria as for A. dirbergi sp. nov., of which this species seems to be a close relative. Distinction from A. dirbergi is supported by CO1 data ( Sabroux et al. 2019b): while for A. krappi sp. nov. intraspecific p-distances are between 0.011 and 0.036, the p-distances in A. dirbergi are between 0.123 and 0.134. Morphologically, A. krappi has a longer ocular tubercle than A. dirbergi (more than seven times as long as wide in A. krappi , less than six times as long as wide in A. dirbergi ), the tip of the ocular tubercle is blunt rather than acute, and the lateral sense organs are smaller than in A. dirbergi . The cement gland tube is also longer in A. krappi , as well as the leg articles.

The species was sampled on the Caribbean and northern coasts of Martinique.

Distribution

Only known from Martinique.

Depth range

17– 80 m.

Figures

Fig. 3. Ammothella krappi sp. nov. A–G, J–K. Holotype, ♂, MNHN-IU-2016-1132. H–I. Paratype, ♀, MNHN-IU-2016-1113. A. Body, dorsal view. B. Body, lateral view (same scale as A). C. Ocular tubercle, frontal view. D. Chelifore. E. Third leg. F. Tarsus and propodus of third leg. G. Palp. H. Oviger. I. Oviger strigilis. J. Oviger. K. Oviger strigilis.