Aegla platensis Schmitt, 1942

Bond-Buckup, Georgina, Jara, Carlos G., Buckup, Ludwig, Bueno, Alessandra A. P., Pérez-Losada, Marcos & Crandall, Keith A., 2010, Description of a new species of Aeglidae, and new records of related species from river basins in Argentina (Crustacea, Anomura), Zootaxa 2343, pp. 18-30 : 24-25

Aegla platensis Schmitt, 1942

Diagnosis. Anterolateral spine of carapace reaching half of cornea; protogastric lobes moderately raised; rostrum very long in adults, carinate along its entire length; anterior angle of ventral margin of epimera 2 with spine; fourth thoracic sternite raised medially, with scale; proximal outer margin of moveable finger of cheliped bearing lobe with tubercle; palmar crest rectangular, little developed; inner margin of ventral face of ischium unornamented ( Bond-Buckup & Buckup 1994).

New records. ARGENTINA: Province of Tucumán: River Las Tiapas and Los Membrillos with Ruta 341, 26º 51'19"S, 65º25'51"W; 707 m, 09.xii.2001,(UFRGS 3231, 2 M); Loc.Rio Noque, La Cascada, La sala Sr. Javier, FML 0 0 150 (togheter with A. humahuaca ).

Former distribution. ARGENTINA: Northern and central Province of Buenos Aires, eastern Tucumán, southeastern Catamarca, and southwestern Misiones. BRAZIL: Southwestern Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, except its northeastern part. PARAGUAY: Colonia Independencia. URUGUAY: Departments of Colonia and Canelones ( Bond-Buckup & Buckup 1994).

Present distribution. ARGENTINA: Paraguay River system, Mar Chiquita system, Dulce River – central Province of Buenos Aires (?), eastern Tucumán, southeastern Catamarca, and southwestern Misiones. BRAZIL: Southwestern Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul except its northeastern part. PARAGUAY: Colonia Independencia. URUGUAY: Departments of Colonia and Canelones.

Remarks. Bond-Buckup & Buckup (1994) identified lots MACN 20959-1, 11857, 23171, and 25931, all from the La Plata River, as A. platensis . However, the first author, during a recent revision of the MACN collection, determined that these specimens are not A. platensis , but another, very similar species. In sampling in tributaries along the right bank of the La Plata River, Province of Buenos Aires, only A. uruguayana was recorded, corroborating the absence of records of A. platensis from the watercourses located in northern Buenos Aires Province. This resulted in changes in its geographical distribution in Argentina, in addition to the new records from the Province of Tucumán. There still remain doubts as to the statement of Schmitt (1942), who mentioned in his description of A. platensis that the lot was collected on “ Isla Flores, which may equally be located near Buenos Aires or in the Department of Canelones in Uruguay.

Aegla platensis has been used as an experimental model in the laboratory as well as in the field (for a review see Bueno & Bond-Buckup 2000; Bueno et al. 2000; Bueno & Bond-Buckup 2004; Ferreira et al. 2005; Oliveira et al, 2007; Almerão et al. 2007).