Haptolana Bowman, 1966

Bruce, Niel L., 2008, New species and a new genus of Cirolanidae (Isopoda: Cymothoida: Crustacea) from groundwater in calcretes in the Pilbarra, northern Western Australia, Zootaxa 1823, pp. 51-64 : 57

Haptolana Bowman, 1966

Haptolana Bowman, 1966: 105 .– Messana & Chelazzi, 1984: 296.– Bruce, 1986: 222.– Kensley & Schotte, 1989: 137.– Bruce & Humphreys, 1993: 876.– Bruce, Lew Ton & Poore, 2002: 147.

Type species. Haptolana trichostoma Bowman, 1966 ; by monotypy. Types held at USNM.

Species included. Haptolana trichostoma Bowman, 1966 , Cuba; H. somala Messana & Chelazzi, 1984 , Somalia; H. pholeta Bruce & Humphreys, 1993 , Western Australia; H. bowmani Botosaneanu & Iliffe, 1997 , Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico; and H. yarraloola sp. nov., Western Australia.

Exclusions. Haptolana belizana Botosaneanu & Iliffe, 1997 , Belize, is regarded as incerta sedis. Haptolana yunca Botosaneanu & Iliffe, 2000 , from the Yucatan, is excluded from the genus, and is here transferred to Cirolana (see ‘Remarks’).

Remarks. Haptolana has been most recently diagnosed by Bruce & Humphreys (1993). Critical to the original genus diagnosis (Bowman 1996) was that pereopods 1–7 are all ‘prehensile’ (or haptorial, sensu Bruce & Humphreys 1993). The second described species, H. somala from Somalia, conformed to Bowman’s concept, but Haptolana pholeta from Western Australia, has an ambulatory pereopod 1, although pereopods 2–7 are otherwise very similar to those of the Somali and Cuban species, each with a haptorial dactylus.

More recently, several Caribbean species have been placed in Haptolana by Botosaneanu & Iliffe (1997, 2000), two of which differ with regard to the diagnostic pereopodal morphology. Haptolana belizana Botosaneanu & Iliffe, 1997 has an ambulatory pereopod 1, and slender propodi and dactyli on pereopods 2–7; it is here regarded as incerta sedis. Haptolana yunca Botosaneanu & Iliffe, 2000 has all pereopods ambulatory, essentially similar to those of Cirolana Leach (see Bruce 1986; Brusca et al. 1995) other than in lacking molariform robust setae on the inferior margin of the merus of pereopods 1–3, and the robust setae of the superior distal angles of the ischium and merus of pereopods 1–3 being comparatively longer. I regard H. yunca as being better placed in the combination Cirolana yunca ( Botosaneanu & Iliffe, 2000) comb. nov., but agreeing with the characters of the subgenus Anopsilana Paulian & Delamare Deboutteville, 1956 [as discussed by Botosaneanu & Iliffe (1997) who reduced Anopsilana to a subgenus of Cirolana ].