Agononida auscerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012

Poore, Gary C. B. & Andreakis, Nikos, 2014, More species of the Agononida incerta complex revealed by molecules and morphology (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Munididae), Zootaxa 3860 (3), pp. 201-225 : 207-209

Agononida auscerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012

( Figs 2 b, 4a)

Agononida sp. aff. incerta .— Poore et al. 2008: 18 (part).

Agononida auscerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012: 16 –18, figs 2F, 2G, 9.

Material examined. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, W of New Hanover, 02°15'S, 150°16'E, 402–440 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3655), MNHN IU- 2011-2426 (det. E. Macpherson).

Diagnosis. Telson anterolateral margin almost straight over anterior three-quarters, posterior quarter separated by shallow hiatus. Pereopods 2–4 dactyli with 8–9 times as long as greatest basal width; robust setae on flexor margin of dactylus of pereopod 2 number 2–6 (median 4; rarely 8), of pereopod 3, 1–4 (median 2) and of pereopod 4, 1–2 (rarely 3). Pereopod 4 merus without spines proximally on upper face. ( Poore & Andreakis 2012)

Distribution. Western Australia, PNG, 2°S–22°S; 373–446 m (median 404 m) depth.

Remarks. Agononida auscerta was recovered sister species to A. rubrizonata in clade B but is morphologically most similar to A. incerta . The anterolateral margin of the telson has only a slight indentation in the male (almost none in the female), the anterior three-quarters being only slightly concave if at all and the posterior quarter barely convex ( A. incerta always has a clear notch separating these two sections). The numbers of robust setae on pereopodal dactyli are fewer, usually 2–6 on pereopod 2 (12–30, median 17, in A. incerta ) and 1–4 on pereopod 3 (2–10, median 6, in A. incerta ). The cheliped of an ovigerous female ( Fig. 4 a) is similar to that of the small male figured by Poore & Andreakis (2012: Fig. 9 A) and is of a delicate form; it is uncertain if more robust forms exist as in larger females of other species. Supermales are unknown. The specimen identified by Enrique Macpherson and photographed by T.-Y. Chan extends the range of this species further east and north from its original records in Western Australia.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Colour photographs of living animals by T. - Y. Chan unless otherwise noted. a, Agononida africerta, paratype, Mozambique, MNHN IU- 2008 - 10190; b, A. auscerta, PNG, MNHN IU- 2011 - 2426; c, A. incerta, Taiwan (from Baba et al. 2009 and Poore & Andreakis 2012); d, A. indocerta, Western Australia, D. Evans (from Jones & Morgan 2002 and Poore & Andreakis 2012); e, A. madagascerta n. sp., paratype, Madagascar, MNHN IU- 2009 - 1891; f, A. norfocerta, PNG, MNHN IU- 2011 - 891; g, A. polycerta n. sp., French Polynesia, TARASOC stn DW 3377 (specimen not located), L. Corbari; h, A. rubrizonata, paratype, Taiwan (from Poore & Andreakis 2012); i, A. tasmancerta, New South Wales (specimen not located), Image # 741 reproduced from 35 mm slide courtesy of The Neville Coleman Collection.

FIGURE 4. Agononida auscerta. Pereopods 1, upper and lateral views: a, ovigerous female, 24 mm, NMV J 55995. Agononida incerta. Anterolateral margin of telson: b, ovigerous female, 24 mm, NMV J 5521; c, male, 28 mm, NMV J 55025.