Macropodia longirostris (Fabricius, 1775)

Spiridonov, Vassily A., Simakova, Ulyana V., Anosov, Sergey E., Zalota, Anna K. & Timofeev, Vitaly A., 2020, Review of Macropodia in the Black Sea supported by molecular barcoding data; with the redescription of the type material, observations on ecology and epibiosis of Macropodia czernjawskii (Brandt, 1880) and notes on other Atlanto-Mediterranean species of Macropodia Leach, 1814 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Inachidae), Zoosystematics and Evolution 96 (2), pp. 609-635 : 609

Macropodia longirostris (Fabricius, 1775) Fig. 4e

Cancer longirostris Fabricius, 1775: 408.

Stenorhynchus longirostris - Heller 1863: 23, pl. 1, figs 1, 2.

Macropodia longirostris - Pesta 1918: 314, fig. 98 (partim); Forest 1964: 350-354 (discussion of synonymy and historical misidentifications); Forest and Zariquiey Álvarez 1964: 228, figs 3, 7, 8, 14; Zariquiey Álvarez 1968: 478, figs 161d, 162c, 184a, b; d’Udekem d’Acoz 1999: 200.

Stenorhynchus egyptius H. Milne Edwards, 1834: 280.

Nec Stenorhynchus longirostris - Czerniavsky 1868: 77; Czerniavsky 1884: 129 (= Macropodia czernjawskii ).

Nec Macropodia longirostris - Kobjakova and Dolgopolskaya 1969: 289 (= Macropodia czernjawskii ).

Nec Macropodia longirostris - Makarov 2004: 328, figs 158-160 (= Macropodia czernjawskii ).

Nec Stenorhynchus aegyptius - Czerniavsky 1884: 127 (= Macropodia czernjawskii )

Nec Macropodia aegyptia - Băcescu 1967: 271, figs 117 - 119 (= Macropodia czernjawskii )

Material.

1 male ( SMF 3750), Mediterranean, Italy, Liguria, Portofino; 1 female ( SMF 3752), Mediterranean, Italy, Liguria, Portofino; 1 male, 1 female ovigerous ( SMF 3754), Mediterranean, Italy, Liguria, Portofino.

Diagnosis.

Cephalothorax, pleon and chelipeds moderately and unevenly covered with short pile and setae. Rostral spines ascending, over-reaching end of antennal peduncle, but not antennal flagellae, about as long as 30% of total carapace length in females and 35% in males; with lateral rows of conspicuous curled setae (Fig. 4e ). Epistome trapezoidal, with constricted anterior portion, with two sharp lateral spinules on each side. All carapace tubercles and spines setose. Gastric region with two median mesogastric tubercles, pair of sharp lateral protogastric spines and sharp and long median metagastric spine directed dorsally. Lower hepatic spine moderate, sharp; pterygostomial process spiny, visible dorsally. Cardiac region elevated, with sharp median spine. Tubercle on intestinal region present. Basal antennal segment with 4-5 spines. Merus of pereopods 2-5 with distal dorsal spine. Dactyli of pereopods 4 and 5, moderately curved, somewhat narrower than propodi, with a dense row of moderate spinules intermittent with setae along flexor margin and setal emargination of adductor margin.

Size

(CW). Non-ovigerous female 9.5 mm; ovigerous female 10.0 mm; males 4.5-9.5 mm.

Ecology.

Mostly upper subtidal; between 2 and 50 m depth ( Zariquiey Álvarez 1968; Garcia Raso 1984; d’Udekem d’Acoz 1999; Ardizone et al. 2000; Pipitone and Aculeo 2003; López de la Rosa et al. 2006; Çelik et al. 2007). Forest and Zariquiey Álvarez (1964) communicated the lowest limit of bathymetric range at 130 m, while Števćić (1990) reported it to be at 230 m. D’Udekem d’Acoz (1999) doubted in particular the latter deepest record. The species is reported in muddy, sandy substrates and rock overgrown by algae ( Števćić 1990; Pipitone and Aculeo 2003), Posidonia oceanica beds ( García Raso 1990), Caulerpa meadows on sand and clay ( López de la Rosa et al. 2006). In the artificial reef community, the species was reported to colonise this new biotope during the mussel ( Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819) dominance phase ( Ardizone et al. 2000). Porporato et al. (2011) reported association of M. longirostris with sea pen Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764).

Distribution.

Mediterranean: Iberian Peninsula coast ( Zariquiey Álvarez 1968; García Raso 1990); Alboran Sea (Garcia Raso 1984); Tyrrhenian Sea ( Zariquiey Álvarez 1968; Ardizone et al. 2000; this study); Adriatic Sea ( Števćić 1990); Ionian Sea ( Pastore 1972; Porporato et al. 2011; Tsagarakis et al. 2013); Levantine Sea ( Holthuis 1961); Dardanelles ( Çelik et al. 2007).

Remarks.

For a long time, this species was supposed to occur in the Black Sea. However, the first historical records by Czerniavsky (1868, 1884) were based on the type material of Stenorhynchus czernjawskii . The material, described and illustrated by Băcescu (1967), was re-identified by d’Udekem d’Acoz (1999). This and the illustration by Makarov (2004: figs 158-160; see above) undoubtedly suggest Macropodia czernjawskii . Kobjakova and Dolgopolskaya (1969) apparently used the name M. longirostris for M. czernjawskii occurring in the Black Sea and reproduced the illustration by Bouvier (1940), based on the Mediterranean material (their fig. 1). Other references of Macropodia longirostris for the Black Sea are either only records of a species of Macropodia , identified as M. egyptia or M. longirostris (i.e. Lyakhov 1940; Bilgin and Çelik 2004; Karaçuha et al. 2009), which are currently difficult to verify or just a mention of the name, secondary references included in the regional faunal lists ( Sowinsky 1902; Öztürk 1998; Gönlügür-Demirci 2006; Balkis et al. 2012).

Figures

Figure 4. Macropodia czernjawskii (a, b. possible paralectotype ZIN-RAS 1609; c, d. ZIN-RAS 35102) and Macropodia longirostris (JC Fabricius, 1775) (e. SMF 3752). a. Right cheliped, ventral view. b. Right cheliped, dorsal view. c. Cphalothorax, dorsal view. d. Cephalothorax, ventral view. e. Cephalothorax, dorsal view. Scale bar: 10 mm.