Parhippolyte misticia ( Clark, 1989 )

Grave, De, Chan, Tin-Yam & Okuno, Junji, 2012, Hippolytidae and Barbouriidae (Decapoda: Caridea) collected during the Ryukyu “ KUMEJIMA 2009 ” expedition *, Zootaxa 3367, pp. 95-102 : 100-101

Parhippolyte misticia ( Clark, 1989)

( Fig. 3 D)

Material examined. 2 ov. females (pocl 11.4, 11.4), 3 females (pocl 8.8–12.8), 1 male (pocl 9.3), Stn. Dive 15, Ebi-ana, 26°17.547´N 126°47.771´E, depth 10 m, 13 Nov. 2009, NTOU M01155 ; 1 ov. female (pocl 14.4), Stn. Dive 18, Shogakko-mae (in front of elementary school), 26°20.012´N 126°43.961´E, depth 18–39 m, under dropoff, overhang, 14 Nov. 2009, NTOU M01156 ; 3 ov. females (pocl 13.5–12.0), 5 females (pocl 6.5–10.4), 4 males (pocl 6.0–9.7), 24 juveniles (pocl 5.2–3.1), Stn. Dive 20, Shogakko-mae (in front of elementary school), 26°19.964´N 126°43.906´E, depth 38 m, 50 m inside from entrance of submarine limestone cave, 14 Nov. 2009, OUMNH.ZC.2011-02-045; 1 ov. female (pocl 14.3), 14 males (pocl 6.6–10.3), 4 damaged specimens (pocl 7.0– 10.0), 58 juveniles (pocl 2.1–5.0), Stn. Dive 22, Shogakko-mae (in front of elementary school), 26°19.964´N 126°43.906´E, depth <40 m, submarine limestone cave, 16 Nov. 2009, NTOU M01157 ; 1 ov. female (pocl 12.1), 7 females (pocl 5.6–11.2), 16 males (pocl 6.5–11.1), 9 damaged specimens (pocl 6.7–9.6), 42 juveniles (pocl 3.4– 4.8), Stn. Dive 40, Hidenchigama, depth 40 m, submarine limestone cave, 20 Nov. 2009, RUMZ-ZC-1835.

Remarks. The material agrees well with the description of Clark (1989), as well as the description of material from the Ryukyu Islands by Brand & Takeda (1994). Although some, minor, variability was noted in the shape of the suborbital lobe, a key character highlighted by Chace (1997), it generally can be regarded as broadly triangular, rather than fully rounded. In all examined males the appendix masculina is distinctly longer than the appendix interna, which is the most convenient character to distinguish this species from its close congener, Parhippolyte uveae Borradaile, 1900 . The status of the other species known from the Ryukyu Islands, P. rukuensis Burukovsky, 2007 , requires clarification. This species was described on the basis of a single, female specimen obtained from an underwater cave on Ie-Jima Island ( Burukovsky, 2007) and has not been recorded since. It differs from P. misticia only by its shorter rostrum, armed with a single dorsal and ventral tooth, in all other respects these taxa are highly similar and may ultimately prove to be synonyms.

Distribution. Known with certainty only from Palau ( Clark 1989) and the Ryukyu Islands ( Brand & Takeda 1994; Nomura et al. 1996; Kawamoto & Okuno 2001); previously recorded from Kumejima by Kawamoto & Okuno (2001). The record of two specimens without habitat data from the Seychelles in Brand & Takeda (1994) needs verification, as the Indo-Pacific species in the genus are hard to distinguish from each other without the presence of males and/or accurate habitat information. However, we agree with Brand & Takeda (1994) that photographs in several underwater guides (e.g. Fielding & Robinson 1987; Kuiter & Debelius 2009) are highly suggestive of a much wider distribution for P. misticia .

Figures

FIGURE 3. A, Thor amboinensis (De Man, 1888), ov. female (pocl 1.4 mm), NTOU M 1160; B – C; Tozeuma armatum Paul’son, 1875, B, male (pocl 7.0 mm), NTOU M 01153; C, female (pocl 7.2 mm), NTOU M 00154; D, Parhippolyte misticia (Clark, 1989), ov. female (pocl 11.4 mm), NTOU M 01155.