Ammothella appendiculata (Dohrn, 1881)

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 : 21-24

Ammothella appendiculata (Dohrn, 1881)

Fig. 6

Ammothea appendiculata Dohrn, 1881: 9 .

Ammothella appendiculata ,—Stock 1975: 973, (literature). Child 1979: 9. Stock 1979: 8. Child 1982: 357. Stock 1986: 400. Arnaud 1987: 39.

Ammothella rugulosa ,—Stock 1975: 972. Child 1979: 11. Stock 1979: 8. Child 1982: 358. Stock 1986: 400.

Material: 6.— 1 male (ov.), 3 juv. ( MNHN), Thalassia , 2 m, 1.VIII.1985 . 4 juv. ( SMF 1610 ), Thalassia , 10.IX.1985 . 11 males (10 ov.), 11 fem. (8 gravid), 18 juv. ( SMF 1611 ), Thalassia , 3 m, 9.X.1985 . 2 fem. (gravid), 4 juv. ( ZSM), Thalassia , 12.XII.1985 . 2 males (ov.), 3 fem. (2 gravid) ( ZFMK), Thalassia , 1–2 m, 13.I.1986 .

9.— 1 adult without legs ( SMF 1612 ), under stone blocks, 1–2 m, 4.II.1986 . 1 male, 1 fem., 1 adult lacking legs ( SMF 1613 ), coral rubble, 5–6 m, 14.III.1986 .

19.— 1 male ( USNM), Thalassia , 5 l of substratum, 0.5–4 m, 27.VI.1985 . 1 male (ov.), 2 juv. ( ZSM), Thalassia , 5 l of substratum, 0.5–4 m, 5.VII.1985 . 1 adult without legs, 6 juv. ( SMF 1614 ), Thalassia , 5 l of substratum, 0.5–4 m, 7.XII.1985 . 9 males (7 ov.), 2 fem. (gravid), 15 juv., 18 adults without legs ( SMF 1615 ), Thalassia , 5 l of substratum, 0.5–4 m, 12.II.1986 .

22.— 1 male (ov.) ( SMF 1616 ), on Halimeda , mesolittoral, 14.IV.1986 .

24.— 2 males (ov.), 4 juv. ( ZMA 3347), Thalassia with corallinaceans and Cnidoscyphus , 1–2 m, 9.VIII.1985. 1 male (ov.), 1 juv. ( SMF 1617), Thalassia with corallinaceans, 2 m, 4.IX.1985. 1 juv. ( SMF 1618), Thalassia , 0.5–1 m, 8.IX.1985. 4 males (2 ov.), 4 fem. (3 gravid), 19 juv. ( INVEMAR), Thalassia with corallinaceans, 1 m, 21.I.1986.

29.— 4 males (2 ov.), 7 fem. (5 gravid), 23 juv. ( SMF 1619 ), Thalassia , 1–2 m, 21.I.1986 .

30.— 5 males (4 ov.), 6 fem. (5 gravid), 11 juv. ( SMF 1620 ), Thalassia , 2 m, 29.V.1985 . 1 male (ov.), 1 fem. (gravid), 4 juv. ( SMF 1621 ), Thalassia , 6.VI.1985 . 1 male, 2 juv. ( SMF 1622 ), Thalassia , 19.VI.1985 . 5 males (1 ov.), 2 fem. (1 gravid), 22 juv. ( SMF 1623 ), Thalassia , 4.VII.1985 . 1 male (ov.), 1 fem. (gravid), 2 juv. ( SMF 1624 ), Thalassia , 1–2 m, 6.VIII.1985 . 1 male (ov.), 1 fem., 2 juv. ( SMF 1625 ), Thalassia , 0.5–2 m, 11.IX.1985 . 1 male (ov.), 3 juv. ( SMF 1626 ), Thalassia , 1–2 m, 4.X.1985 . 11 males (6 ov.), 4 fem. (3 gravid), 61 juv. ( SMF 1627 ), Thalassia , 2–3 m, 4.XII.1985 . 46 males (19 ov.), 36 fem. (24 gravid), 282 juv. ( SMF 1628 ), Thalassia , 1–2 m, 17.I.1986 . 23 males (17 ov.), 11 fem. (7 gravid), 90 juv. ( SMF 1629 ), Thalassia , 1–3 m, 24.I.1986 .

33.— 9 juv. ( SMF 1630 ), Thalassia , 0.5 m, 27.V.1985 . 2 juv. ( SMF 1631 ), Thalassia , 0–1 m, 5.VIII.1985 . 2 males (1 ov.), 27 juv. ( SMF 1632 ), Thalassia , 0.5 m, 20.XII.1985 . 3 males (1 ov.), 20 juv. ( SMF 1633 ), Thalassia , 17.I.1986 .

38.— 2 males, 2 fem. (gravid), 8 juv. ( SMF 1634 ), Thalassia , 0.5 m, 17.III.1986 .

39.— 1 fem. (gravid), 4 juv. ( SMF 1635 ), under stones, mesolittoral, 14.IV.1986 .

40.— 1 male ( SMF 1636 ), Thalassia , 1–3.5 m, 8.VIII.1985 .

41.— 2 juv. ( SMF 1637 ), Syringodium , 3 m, 20.XII.1985 .

43.— 16 males (8 ov.), 12 fem. (6 gravid), 11 juv. ( SMF 1638 ), Thalassia , 1–1.5 m, 25.II.1986 .

Description of male: Trunk slender, oval in dorsal view, completely segmented; crurigers separated by slightly more than their diameter. Ocular process 5–7 times as tall as its diameter, distally bearing distinctly pigmented eyes. Crurigers 1–4 each showing short dorso-distal club-shaped seta. Abdomen almost at right angles to trunk or directed straight backwards, with some simple or clavate setae; if abdomen directed backwards, about two thirds of its length project over the 4 th crurigers. Proboscis a protracted oval, about 3 times as long as its diameter, narrowest proximally.

Scape of cheliphores two-articled, 5 times as long as broad, distally enlarged; proximal article about 2/5 length of distal article; proximal article on its retro-lateral aspect with short clavate seta; distal article of scape with some simple and some clavate setae distributed irregularly; chela a mere stump without setae. Palp of 9 articles, 2 nd and 4 th articles longest; 2 nd article about 5.5 times as long as wide, 4 th article about 4.2 times as long as wide; articles 5–9 with several setae, mainly ventral and distal. Oviger of 10 articles, 2 nd, 4th and 5 th articles prolonged; 7 th article with long spine, articles 8–10 with pair of serrated spines. Legs relatively slender; coxa 1 of leg 1 bearing simple antero-lateral seta and two distal clavate setae; coxa 1 of legs 2–4 with simple seta prolaterally and single dorsal clavate seta; coxa 2 barely longer than coxa 3, with some dorsal clavate and some simple setae; femur and tibia 1 of about same length; tube of cement gland on dorso-distal aspect of femur, about 1/3 of femur length; femur, tibia 1 and tibia 2 with several simple and clavate setae in irregular distribution; tibia 1 and tibia 2 additionally with 2 slender spines on dorsal aspect; tarsus slightly longer than broad, with one dorso-distal and 2 ventro-distal setae; propodus slightly curved, without heel; sole with 3 robust spines in basal half and 6 finer spines in distal half; main claw about 2/5 of propodus length, feebly curved; auxiliary claw about 4/5 length of main claw, more-strongly curved.

Measurements: Trunk length 0.81; width 0.74 (across 2 nd crurigers); Length of abdomen 0.58; Length of proboscis 0.7; Length of cheliphore 0.57. Leg 3: coxa 1, 0.08; coxa 2, 0,34; coxa 3, 0.23; femur 0.64; tibia 1, 0.68; tibia 2, 0.61; tarsus 0.08; propodus 0.03; main claw 0.19; auxiliary claw 0.15.

Female: generally like male. Long spine on 7 th article of oviger absent, replaced by pair of serrated spines. Femur and coxa 2 of all legs more robust than in males.

Remarks: The height of the ocular process, the length of abdomen, and the relative length of the two articles of the cheliphore scape vary a bit. Mostly this last character was used to differentiate between A. appendiculata and A. rugulosa , which were considered for a long time as two very closely related species. In the meantime the view that A. rugulosa and A. appendiculata are conspecific prevails. Child (1982: 357) wrote: "I have no stronger criteria for keeping the species separate,...". Stock (1975a: 975) also doubts the status of A. rugulosa as an independent species. Neither morphology nor ecology in the material from Colombia gave any hint whatsoever to regard them as twin species. So we consider A. rugulosa here as a junior synonym of A. appendiculata .

Ammothella appendiculata avoids deeper water, and in the area researched was never encountered below 6 m depth. A predilection for seagrass is evident. Ovigerous males were found all year round with exception of months III and XI.

Distribution: The species is widely distributed in the tropical and temperate Atlantic as well as in the Mediterranean. A few records are known from the Red Sea (see Stock 1964a: 27), but only a single one from the Pacific coast of America is reported, from Panamá (Stock 1975a: 973).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Ammothella appendiculata (Dohrn, 1881). A, male dorsal, B, male lateral, C, male cheliphore, D, female oviger, E, distal female oviger articles, F, male oviger, G, distal articles of male oviger, H, male palp, I, male leg 3, J, femur with eggs of female.