Numbakulla sp.

Kong, Chim Chee, 2024, A synopsis of the Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracarida) of Singapore, with a review of tanaidacean diversity in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea, Zootaxa 5451 (1), pp. 1-75 : 22

Numbakulla sp. SG#1

( Fig. 8 )

Material examined. Station SG57: 1 female with oostegites (SUB-0493).

Remarks. Guţu & Heard (2002) described the genus Numbakulla and species N. pygmaeus Guţu & Heard, 2002 is the type species by original designation. Numbakulla can be easily recognised by the presence of long filtering setae on the merus and carpus of pereopod-1. Other characters consistent to the genus include (1) antennule inner flagellum with two articles; and (2) uropod exopod with four articles. This genus is currently represented by three species ( Anderson 2023), all distributed in the shallow habitats (intertidal to 84 m depth) of the Indo-West Pacific. Numbakulla srilankensis Guţu, 2006 and N. pii Stępień, 2013 are closely associated with coral reefs in Sri Lanka and Queensland, Australia, respectively, with N. pygmaeus occurring on the Northwest Australian Continental Shelf. An identification key to species of the genus was provided by Stępień (2013). Numbakulla sp. SG#1 from Singapore is very similar to N. srilankensis but can be distinguished from N. srilankensis by the much longer antenna article-2. This small tanaid, with a body length of 2.5 mm, is possibly an undescribed species and represents the first record of the genus (and family) in SEASCS. The sole specimen was collected from station SG57 (see Fig. 2 ), a coral reef at the western side of Terumbu Pandan, Singapore Strait at 5–15 m depth.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Sampling stations in the West Johor (red), East Johor (green) and Singapore (blue) Straits, Singapore. Refer to Table 1 for details. This map was modified from nautical chart GSP1 ‘Anchorages and Aids to Navigation’ (Maritime Port Authority of Singapore 2012).

FIGURE 8. Numbakulla sp. SG#1, female with oostegites and detached chelipeds, Singapore (SUB-0493), dorsal habitus. Scale bar = 1 mm.