Gonodactylopsis komodoensis Erdmann & Manning, 1998

Ahyong, Shane T., 2022, Revision of the Indo-West Pacific Coral Reef Mantis Shrimp Genus, Gonodactylopsis Manning, 1969 (Crustacea: Stomatopoda: Gonodactylidae), Records of the Australian Museum 74 (2), pp. 41-57 : 48-51

Gonodactylopsis komodoensis Erdmann & Manning, 1998

Figs 1, 5

Gonodactylopsis komodoensis Erdmann & Manning, 1998: 620–621 , fig. 1e.— Barber & Erdmann, 2000: 33, figs 3–5, tab. 1, 2.— Schram & Müller, 2004: 45.— Barber & Boyce, 2006: fig. 1.— Clark & Schram, 2009: 448.— Barber et al., 2012: tab. 1.

Gonodactylopsis sp.A .— Cronin et al., 2000: fig. 2.— Barber et al., 2012: 18, tab. 1.— Huffard et al., 2012: tab. 1.

Gonodactylopsis spongicola Cronin et al., 2002: 180 , 182, 183, tab. 3.—Cronin & Caldwell, 2002: 188, 190, 192, 194, 195, figs 3–5, tab. 1–4.— Marshall et al., 2003: 363.— Marshall et al., 2007: tab. 1.— Cronin et al., 2014: 6, figs 5, 6. [Nomen nudum]

Type material. Holotype: USNM 260914 , female (TL 22 mm), Tatawa Kecil , Komodo, Indonesia, 8°31.90'S 119°38.10'E, coll. M. Erdmann, pre 1997 . Paratypes: USNM 260915 , 1 male (TL 20 mm), Tatawa Kecil , Komodo, Indonesia, 8°31.90'S 119°38.10'E, coll. M. Erdmann ; USNM 260916 , 1 male (TL 12 mm), Tanjung Toronado, Komodo ,

Indonesia, 8°44.70'S 119°39.50'E, coll. M. Erdmann, pre 1997; USNM 260917 , 1 female (TL 10 mm), Tanjung Toronado, Komodo , Indonesia, 8°44.70'S 119°39.50'E, coll. M. Erdmann, pre 1997 .

Other material examined. Indonesia: AM P105856 , 3 males (11–15 mm), 6 females (TL 14–17 mm), Siladen Island , N Sulawesi, 1°37.9'N 124°48.2'E, 11–17 m, burrows in old Lithophaga holes in sponges, coll. M. Erdmann, 5 November 1998 ; AM P105857 , 2 males (TL 15, 16 mm), 5 females (TL 13–18 mm), Bunaken, N Sulawesi, 1°38.92'N 124°43.80'E, 10 m, in petrosid sponges, coll. Erdmann, 22 April 2000 .

Description. Eyes elongate; cornea subconical, reaching anteriorly beyond midlength of antennular article 3. Ocular scales low, subtruncate.

Antennular peduncle length 0.6–0.8CL. Antennal protopod with fixed, laterally flattened mesiodorsal spine, short anteroventral tooth; antennal scale length 0.4CL.

Rostral plate slightly wider than long; median spine about twice length of basal portion (medially), laterally compressed, with obtusely angular ventral keel; lateral spines divergent with weakly arcuate margins.

Raptorial claw dactylus with proximal notch on outer margin; propodus with proximal movable spine, opposable margin sparsely pectinate proximally.

Mandibular palp 2-segmented. Maxillipeds 1–5 each with epipod.

Thoracic somites 6 and 7 lateral processes subequal, lower margins subtruncate. Thoracic somite 8 anterolateral margin rounded; sternal keel obsolete.

Pleopod 1 endopod with lateral lobe on posterior “endite”.

Abdominal somites 1–5 posterolateral angles unarmed. AWCLI 795–914. Abdominal somite 6 with submedian, intermediate bosses usually unarmed, lateral bosses with posterior spine.

Telson wider than long to as long as wide; 6–14 (usually 10 or 11) submedian denticles arising from inner margin of submedian teeth; 2 intermediate and 1 lateral denticles usually present; submedian and intermediate teeth slender, sharp; submedian teeth subparallel; intermediate teeth length at least twice width, gently incurved, extending posteriorly beyond midlength of submedian teeth; lateral teeth stout, triangular, apex acute, directed posteriorly. Median carina inflated, tumid, more so in males than females, with posterior spine; accessory median carina with small posterior spine; anterior submedian carina arcuate, smooth, with small posterior spine; submedian and intermediate teeth each with rounded basal tubercle terminating in minute spinule; anterior intermediate carina low, inconspicuous; knob absent; submedian and intermediate teeth without ventral carina.

Uropodal protopod terminal spines with outer slightly longer than inner, smooth ventrally, neither with longitudinal carina, inner with low dorsal carina; upper proximal surface without obtuse swelling behind dorsal carina; slender spine above exopod articulation. Exopod proximal article dorsal surface with 2 longitudinal carinae, one submedially and one adjacent to inner margin; outer margin with 9–11 movable spines, distalmost reaching almost to end of distal article; inner margin smooth, glabrous; distal margin with small ventral spine. Exopod distal article with outer distal margin setose, inner margin glabrous; dorsal and ventral surfaces with inner one-fourth to one-fifth thickened, smooth, membranous but firm, diffusely demarcated from chitinized outer portion; outer chitinized portion dorsally and ventrally unadorned. Endopod length 2.7–3.3× width, spatulate, linear, spatulate, articulation with protopod at anterior end; outer margin gently convex, setose along distal half, inner margin almost straight glabrous; dorsally with curved carina adjacent to outer margin; dorsal inner quarter and ventral inner half or slightly less membranous but firm, diffusely demarcated from chitinized outer portion.

Colouration in preservative. Completely faded to pale yellow-brown.

Measurements. Male (n = 7) TL 11–20 mm; female (n = 13) TL 13–22 mm. Other measurements of holotype: CL 4.3 mm, antennular peduncle length 2.6 mm, antennal scale length 1.5 mm, abdominal somite 5 width 3.9 mm.

Remarks. Gonodactylopsis komodoensis is the least ornamented species of the genus, lacking the numerous tubercles or spines on the dorsal telson carinae that are present in other congeners, and in fewer and lower uropodal carinae (rather than sharply cristate) as in other gonodactylids. Instead, the dorsal telson carinae of G. komodoensis are unarmed apart from the tiny posterior spinule on the carinae and basal tubercles of the submedian and intermediate teeth. Similarly, the primary spines of the uropodal protopod of G. komodoensis lack the ventral longitudinal carina that is present in congeners. Additionally, the de-chitinized membranous posterior surfaces of the uropodal endopod and exopod distal article are comparatively less pronounced in G. komodoensis than in congeners, lacking wrinkling, and with a diffuse rather than distinct line of demarcation from the chitinized cuticle. In other species of Gonodactylopsis , the soft, membranous portion of the uropodal cuticle is irregularly wrinkled and sharply demarcated from the adjacent chitinized surface but in G. komodoensis , the membranous surface is smooth, and although swollen, it is diffusely demarcated from the adjacent chitinized cuticle. Additionally, the membranous portion in G. komodoensis is more extensive ventrally than dorsally, rather than similar on both sides in congeners. As such, G. komodoensis presents uropod features that could be transitional between other species of Gonodactylopsis and members of the Gonodactylellus molyneux group and Hoplosquilla , which have fully chitinized uropod articles.

As observed by Erdmann & Manning (1998), allometric changes are evident in the proportional elongation of the primary telson teeth (particularly the submedians) and reduction in the number of submedian denticles. The primary telson teeth are stoutest and proportionally shortest in the smallest specimens in which the submedian teeth are distinctly shorter than the length of the remaining telson ( Fig. 5M ), are almost as long as the remaining telson by TL 14–20 mm ( Fig. 5H,K ), and longer than the remaining telson by TL 22 mm ( Fig. 5N ). The submedian denticles being most numerous in the smallest specimens (10–14 at TL 10–11 mm), occupy most of the mesial margin of the submedian teeth ( Fig. 5M ). Specimens of TL 13–18 mm have 9–12 submedian denticles distributed along approximately the anterior half or more of the mesial margin of the submedian teeth ( Fig. 5H,K ); by TL 20 mm, 8 or 9 submedian denticles are present and restricted to the proximal half of the submedian teeth margin, and by TL 22 mm, 7 or 8 denticles are present and restricted to the anterior one-quarter of the mesial margin of the submedian teeth ( Fig. 5N ). Other sizerelated changes include a proportionally smaller posterior spinule on the telson carinae in larger specimens, and a tendency to lose the posterior spinule on the submedian bosses of abdominal somite 6 with increasing body size. The somite 6 submedian bosses are posteriorly armed in specimens to TL 15 mm, usually unarmed in specimens TL 16–18 mm, and always unarmed above this size. A minute intermediate telson denticle is usually present in specimens to TL 17 mm, but is lost in larger specimens.

The male pleopod 1 endopod is fully modified and penes well developed in the smallest males examined (TL 11 mm). The mandibular palp is clearly 2-articled except in one female (TL 14 mm, Siladen Island) in which the palp articles on one side appear to be undifferentiated.

Barber et al. (2012) and Huffard et al. (2012) listed three unidentified species of Gonodactylopsis from Indonesia and New Guinea, referred to as Gonodactylopsis sp. A –C. Gonodactylopsis sp. A , from central-east Indonesia and New Guinea, exhibited a strong genetic break between more westerly populations (Sulawesi to Bali area) and those further east (New Guinea) ( Barber et al., 2012). Gonodactylopsis sp. A , at least the Sulawesi–Bali population (material of which is represented in the present study), corresponds to G. komodoensis but further taxonomic scrutiny of New Guinean populations is warranted. The identities of Gonodactylopsis sp. B (western Sumatra, southern Java) and sp. C (Halmahera, western New Guinea) remain to be determined when specimens become available for study; they could be undescribed or belong to named species, such as G. drepanophora and G. lata , which also occur in the region.

The spectral properties of the compound eyes of G. komodoensis have been analysed in detail under the names G. sp. A. by Cronin et al. (2000) and G. spongicola by Cronin et al. (2002), Cronin & Caldwell (2002), Marshall et al. (2003), Marshall et al. (2007) and Cronin et al. (2014). The name G. spongicola has never been formally proposed nor accompanied by a description, and is therefore a nomen nudum.

Habitat. Exposed vertical rock faces and reefs subject to strong tidal flow and currents; in cavities or burrows in coral, coralline algae, or barrel and petrosid sponges.

Distribution. Indonesia, from Komodo to North Sulawesi; 1.5– 50 m.

Figures

Figure 5. Gonodactylopsis komodoensis sp. nov.: A–L, male, TL 16 mm, Bunaken, Indonesia,AM P105857; M, male, TL 11 mm, Siladen Island, Indonesia, AM P105856; N, holotype female, TL 22 mm, Komodo, Indonesia, USNM 260914. (A) anterior cephalothorax, dorsal view; (B) right eye, lateral view; (C) ocular scales; (D) rostral plate, lateral view; (E) right antenna, lateral view; (F) right raptorial claw, lateral view; (G) thoracic somites 6–8, right lateral view; (H) abdominal somite 6, telson and right uropod; (I) abdominal somites 5, 6 and telson, lateral view; (J) right uropod, ventral view; (K) telson, ventral view; (L) right pleopod 1 endopod, anterior view; (M, N) telson, dorsal outline. Scale: A–K, M, N = 2.0 mm; L = 1.0 mm.