Anoplodactylus pectinus Hedgpeth, 1948

Müller, Hans-Georg & Krapp, Franz, 2009, The pycnogonid fauna (Pycnogonida, Arthropoda) of the Tayrona National Park and adjoining areas on the Caribbean coast of Colombia 2319, Zootaxa 2319 (1), pp. 1-138 : 107-110

Anoplodactylus pectinus Hedgpeth, 1948

Fig. 57

Anoplodactylus pectinus Hedgpeth, 1948: 234 . Child 1979: 58. Stock 1979: 15. Child 1982: 372. Stock 1986: 404. Child 1988: 20. Nakamura & Child 1988: 662.

Material: 4.— 1 male, 2 juv. ( SMF 1342 ), coral rubble, 18 m, 9.X.1985 . 1 juv. ( SMF 1335 ), coral rubble, 30 m, 10.III.1985 .

5.— 3 males, 2 fem., 42 juv. ( SMF 1353 ), coral rubble, 18.II.1986 .

8.— 1 male ( SMF 1346 ), on hydroids from shaded jetty piles, 0–2 m, 1.II.1986 .

9.— 1 male, 1 fem.(gravid), 1 juv. ( ZFMK), coral rubble, 13 m, 3.VI.1985 . 2 juv. ( SMF 1354 ), coral rubble, 12 m, 29.XI.1985 . 1 male, 1 juv. ( SMF 1333 ), hydroids on coral rubble, 22–27 m, 1.XII.1985 . 1 fem., 1 juv. ( SMF 1343 ), coral rubble, 12–15 m, 15.XII.1985 . 2 males, 4 juv. ( SMF 1338 ), coral rubble, 22 m, 17.XII.1985 . 1 fem. (gravid) ( SMF 1345 ), coral rubble, 16 m, 2.I.1986 . 2 males, 1 juv. ( SMF 1330 ), coral rubble, 20–22 m, 26.I.1986 . 1 fem. (gravid) ( SMF 1352 ), under stone blocks, 1–2 m, 4.II.1986 . 3 males, 2 fem., 4 juv. ( ZMA 3363 ), coral rubble with hydroids and bryozoan upgrowth, 30 m, 10.II.1986 . 2 juv. ( SMF 1340 ), coral rubble, 5–6 m, 14.III.1986 .

10.— 1 male ( ZSM), Sargassum on rocks, mesolittoral, 3.VII.1985 .

11.— 1 juv. ( SMF 1324 ), coral rubble, 15 m, 2.VIII.1985 .

12.— 1 fem., 3 juv. ( SMF 1355 ), coral rubble, 17–19 m, 9.I.1986 .

14.— 1 male ( MNHN), coral rubble, 2 m, 2.IX.1985 . 1 juv. ( SMF 1341 ), coral rubble, 1.5–5 m, 7.I.1986 .

15.— 1 male (ov.) ( SMF 1349 ), algal stands on rock, 5–7 m, 22.V.1985 .

19.— 5 males (2 ov.), 2 fem. (gravid), 2 juv. ( SMF 1322 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 27.VI.1985 . 1 juv. ( SMF 1332 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 8.VIII.1985 . 2 males, 1 juv. ( SMF 1350 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 13.VIII.1985 . 1 fem., 2 juv. ( SMF 1328 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 2.X.1985 . 1 juv. ( SMF 1334 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 8.XI.1985 . 1 male, 1 juv. ( SMF 1331 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 7.XII.1985 . 1 male, 1 fem., 1 juv. ( SMF 1337 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 7.I.1986 . 6 juv. ( SMF 1336 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 12.II.1986 . 1 male, 1 fem., 2 juv. ( USNM), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 2.IV.1986 . 2 juv. ( SMF 1325 ), Thalassia , 5 l substratum, 2.V.1986 .

24.— 1 male, 4 juv. ( SMF 1339 ), Thalassia with corallinaceans, 2 m, 4.IX.1985 . 2 males (ov.), 1 juv. ( INVEMAR), Thalassia , 0.5–1 m, 8.IX.1985 . 1 male, 3 juv. ( SMF 1326 ), Thalassia with corallinaceans, 1 m, 21.I.1986 .

25.— 2 males, 1 juv. ( SMF 1329 ), on Cnidoscyphus among mangroves, 1 m, 1.XI.1985 .

27.— 1 male (ov.) ( SMF 1348 ), coral rubble, 15–18 m, 20.IX.1985 . 2 males (1 ov.), 1 fem., 3 juv. ( MNHN), coral rubble in Thalassia , 1 m, 1.XI.1985 .

29.— 1 male, 1 fem.(gravid) ( SMF 1327 ), Thalassia , 1–2 m, 21.I.1986 .

33.— 1 juv. ( SMF 1323 ), Thalassia , 0.5 m, 20.XII.1985 .

36.— 1 male (ov.) ( SMF 1356 ), coral rubble, 11–16 m, 23.IX.1985 .

37.— 1 male, 1 juv. ( ZSM), from detritus, algae and hydroids, 6 m, 4.VI.1985 .

39.— 1 juv. ( SMF 1347 ), on stones, mesolittoral, 17.III.1986 .

43.— 5 males (4 ov.), 4 fem. (2 gravid), 5 juv. ( SMF 1344 ), Thalassia , 1–1.5 m, 25.II.1986 .

45.— 1 male ( SMF 1351 ), on algae, hydroids and bryozoans on rock, 6–10 m, 25.IX.1985 .

Description of male: Dorsal trunk outline a long oval, slender, segments 3 and 4 fused. Crurigers separated by about 1.5 of their diameter, barely longer than their diameter, without any tubercles, but a dorsodistal seta. Ocular process small, twice higher than basal diameter, distally rounded. Eyes small and distinctly pigmented. Abdomen slender, nearly upright, three times higher than low ocular process. Proboscis cylindrical, midpart somewhat enlarged and distally blunt.

Cheliphores long and very slender, with few setae; scape reaching to tip of proboscis; chela slender, fingers distinctly curved; cutting edges of both fingers with 2–5 pointed teeth; movable finger with a seta on external margin. Oviger 6-articled, rather slender; 3 rd article the longest, 1.2 times as long as 1 st and 2 nd together; 4 th article as long as 5 th plus 6 th, slightly curved and with 3 setae on external margin; terminal article a long oval, just shorter than 5 th, both with about 5 short setae directed proximally.

Legs slender, sparsely setose; coxa 1 without tubercles, dorso-distally as a rule with 4 short setae, just shorter than coxa 3; coxa 2 1.6 times as long as coxa 1; femur as long as tibia 1, both articles bearing a small dorso-distal tubercle, with long and slender apical seta; cement gland opening on femur broadly oval, raised slightly above femur, situated in the dorso-median line at the end of proximal half of article; tibia 2 just longer than tibia 1, the dorso-distal tubercle situated slightly subdistal, armed with a long seta; tarsus as long as broad; propodus slender and barely curved; heel poorly developed, with two robust spines, the posterior spine multiply serrated and comb-like; sole with about 10 short spines curved distally, lamella very short; propodus with long dorsodistal seta; main claw relatively slender and barely curved, its tip reaching to the serrated spine of heel; no auxiliary claws.

All specimens coloured yellowish; intestine most often greenish, rarely yellowish or a light violet.

Measurements: Length of trunk 1.47; width 0.92 (across 1 s t crurigers); length of abdomen 0.44); length of proboscis 0.52. Length of cheliphore scape 0.47; length of chela 0.35. Length of articles of leg 3: coxa 1— 0.26; coxa 2—0.41; coxa 3—0.29; femur 1.0, tibia 1, 1.0; tibia 2, 0.87; tarsus 0.12; propodus 0.62; main claw 0.43.

Female: like male except for the sex-specific characters, often slightly larger.

Postlarva: Proboscis much more robust than in adults. Leg 4 a mere stump without traces of articulation. Abdomen very short, distally broadly rounded.

Remarks: In the Atlantic A. pectinus cannot be confounded with any other species owing to the serrated spine on the heel of its propodus which provided its specific epithet. In the Indo-Pacific several species like Anoplodactylus tenuicorpus CHILD, 1991 , A. exaggeratus Stock, 1994 , A. perissoporus Arango & Krapp, 2007 and A. erythraeus Bartolino & Krapp (2007) also possess this serrated heel spine, but they are much more attenuated (cf. Arango & Krapp 2007 and Bartolino & Krapp 2007).

A. pectinus was a very frequent species in the Santa Marta region, but no distinct substrate preference was apparent, as it was found on almost all substrata where collected, only being scarce on algal stands. Depth distribution encompassed the entire sampling range from 0– 30 m. Ovigerous males were found in months II, VI, IX, and XI, in both the rainy and the dry season.

Distribution: Pantropical, but most frequently from the western Atlantic (comp. Child 1982: 372; Nakamura & Child 1988: 662). The species was not recorded previously on Colombian coasts.

Figures

FIGURE 57. Anoplodactylus pectinus Hedgpeth, 1948: A male trunk dorsal, B male trunk lateral, C male proboscis ventral, D postlarva dorsal, E outline of postlarva’s proboscis ventral, F male cheliphore, G oviger, H male leg 3, I propodus and tarsus of male leg 3, J cement gland pore, lateral view.