Anoplodactylus robustus ( Dohrn, 1881 )

Sabroux, Romain, Hassanin, Alexandre & Corbari, Laure, 2022, Sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) collected during the Madibenthos Expedition from Martinique shallow waters, European Journal of Taxonomy 851 (1), pp. 1-141 : 100-101

Anoplodactylus robustus ( Dohrn, 1881)

Phoxichilidium robustum Dohrn, 1881: 188–190 , pl. 7 figs 13–18.

Halosoma robustum – Marcus 1940: 68–71, fig. 8a–c. — Hedgpeth 1948 (?): 218.

Phoxichilidium robustum – Lebour 1945: 153. — Dunlop et al. 2007: 61, fig. 49.

Anoplodactylus robustus – Stock 1954a (?): 128; 1955: fig. 12b–c, 237; 1975a: 1080; 1979: 18–22, fig. 6. — Child & Hedgpeth 1971: 609 (list), 612–613. — Arnaud 1987: 46–47. — Munilla 1993: tab. 4. — Krapp 1996: 526. — Child 1998b: 294 (list). — Chimenz Gusso & Lattanzi 2003: tab. 1. — Cano-Sánchez & López-González 2007: tab. 1. — Bartolino & Chimenz 2010: 396 (list). — TiradoSanchez 2014: 2. — Soler-Membrives & Munilla 2015: tab. 2. — Sabroux et al. 2019b: 1525, tab. 1, figs 3, 5.

Type material

Syntype (?) (see Dunlop et al. 2007): ZMB _Pyc_39 (not examined). Type locality: Naples Bay, Italy.

Material examined

MARTINIQUE • 1 ♀; Case-Pilote; 14°38.3ʹ N, 61°08.4ʹ W; depth 12 m; 8 Sep. 2016; st. AB159; MNHN-IU-2016-796/ MK411119 • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; MNHN-IU-2016-1415 • 1 ♀; Case-Pilote; 14°38.6ʹ N, 61°08.5ʹ W; depth 8 m; 8 Sep. 2016; st. AB108; MNHN-IU-2016-798/ MK411121 • 1 ♂; Vétiver; 14°37.9ʹ N, 61°07.7ʹ W; depth 10 m; 8 Sep. 2016; st. AS 054; MNHN- IU-2016-1096/ MK411048 • 1 ♀; Grande Anse du Diamant; 14°28ʹ N, 61°00.1ʹ W; depth 12 m; 26 Sep. 2016; st. AB360; MNHN-IU-2017-224.

Remarks

This species is relatively rare compared to its closest relative, Anoplodactylus monotrema Stock, 1979 ; similar rarity was mentioned by Arnaud (1987) for the fauna of the Mediterranean Sea. Previous records of A. robustus from the Western Atlantic were regarded as doubtful or incorrect by Stock (1979), who suggested that most of the older records of this species were mistaken with A. monotrema . Child (1979), however, considered that the Brazilian specimens identified as Halosoma robustum by Marcus (1940) should be treated as A. robustus . All our specimens come from three localities on the Caribbean coast. They match very well with Stock’s description in showing angulous proboscis corners around the mouth, five-articled ovigers and multiple cement gland pores.

Distribution

Most records are from the Western Mediterranean ( Gibraltar Strait, Alboran Sea, Balearic Sea, Gulf of Lion, Tyrrhenian Sea). Additional records from Brazil, the Caribbean and Galápagos, some of which were regarded as possibly mistaken with Anoplodactylus monotrema by Stock (1979) (see remarks above).

Depth range

4– 44 m.