Hippolyte australiensis (Stimpson, 1860)

Gan, Zhibin & Li, Xinzheng, 2024, First record of the hippolytid shrimp Hippolyte australiensis (Stimpson, 1860) (Crustacea, Decapoda) from China, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. 119510-119510 : 119510

Hippolyte australiensis (Stimpson, 1860)

Hippolyte australiensis Virbius australiensis : Stimpson (1860), p. 35 (type locality: Sydney Harbour, Australia); Haswell (1882), p. 186.

Hippolyte australiensis Caradina cincinnuli : Bate (1863) p.500, pl. 40, fig. 3 (type locality: Gulf St Vincent, Australia); Haswell (1882), p. 183.

Hippolyte australiensis Hippolyte ventricose : Holthuis (1947), p. 16, p.55; Chace (1997), p. 49.

Hippolyte australiensis Hippolyte australiensis : Kemp (1914), p. 98, pl. 2, fig. 6; Hale (1928), p. 91, fig. 19; Edgar (1997), p. 192; Debelius (1999), p. 132; d’Udekem d’Acoz (2001), p. 37, fig. 1-5 (re-description).

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence : individualCount: 2; sex: 1 male, 1 female; lifeStage: adult male CL 3.8 mm, adult female CL 3.9; reproductiveCondition: non-reproductive; disposition: in collection; occurrenceID: CD8724B4-CD14-55DE-8840-7D8CC59CD738; Taxon : scientificName: Hippolyte australiensis (Stimpson, 1860); kingdom: Animalia ; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Malacostraca ; order: Decapoda ; family: Hippolytidae ; genus: Hippolyte ; specificEpithet: australiensis; taxonRank: species; scientificNameAuthorship: (Stimpson, 1860); taxonomicStatus: accepted; Location : higherGeography: the northwestern Pacific ; continent: Asia ; waterBody: South China Sea ; country: China; locality: Daya Bay ; minimumDepthInMeters: 3; maximumDepthInMeters: 5; verbatimLatitude: 22.5651°N; verbatimLongitude: 114.6633°E; Identification: identifiedBy: Zhibin Gan; dateIdentified: 1 October 2023; identificationReferences: d’ Udekem d’ Acoz 2001; Event: samplingProtocol: handheld net; samplingEffort: snorkeling in a seaweed bed; eventDate: 1 March 1987; habitat: seaweed bed; fieldNumber: St. F 11-7-29; Record Level: type: Event; language: English; institutionID: Marine Biological Museum of the Chinese, Academy of Sciences (MBMCAS); collectionID: MBM129577

Description

Outline fairly robust, glabrous, without morphological sexual dimorphism. Ratio lateral length/height of carapace 1.65-1.78 (Fig. 1 A). Rostrum 7.10-7.25 times as long as high, slightly shorter than carapace, distinctly overreaching antennular peduncle, nearly reaching to end of scaphocerite, proximal part depressed, with long and distinct lateral carina, dorsal border unarmed, distal 0.47-0.56 of ventral border with three teeth. Antennal spine overreaching inferior orbital angle. Hepatic spine slightly overreaching anterior edge of carapace. Pterygostomian angle protruding (Fig. 1 A).

Eye well-developed, nearly reaching to stylocerite apex; cornea semi-spherical, without ocellus, shorter and broader than stalk (Fig. 1 A). Antennular peduncle reaching to mid-length of scaphocerite, first segment of antennular peduncle with one well-developed distolateral tooth, inner ventral tooth on 0.63 of first segment (excluding distolateral tooth); stylocerite robust, reaching to 0.72-0.75 (distolateral tooth included) or 0.89-0.92 (distolateral tooth excluded) of first segment; second segment of antennular peduncle 0.87-0.89 times as long as broad in dorsal view, approximately 1.26-1.33 times as long as third segment in dorsal view; outer antennular flagellum shorter than inner, flagella with proximal 5-7 segments thicker than distal ones (Fig. 1 B). Scaphocerite 3.01-3.11 times as long as wide, distolateral spine of scaphocerite far from reaching distal margin of blade, distolateral spine and blade separated by a notch (Fig. 1 C).

Mouthparts with morphology typical of the genus Hippolyte . Third maxilliped reaching to 0.22-0.31 of scaphocerite when extended forward; exopod relatively short, about reaching to mid-length of antepenultimate segment of endopod; ultimate segment (excluding apical spine) of endopod 1.82-2.01 times as long as penultimate segment, distal third armed with 9-12 strong spines; antepenultimate segment nearly equal length to the last two segments combined (Fig. 1 D).

First pereiopod short, but robust, reaching to end of basicerite when extended forward, tip of fixed finger with three massive spines, tip of dactylus with four massive spines. Second pereiopod slightly overreaching distolateral spine of scaphocerite when extended forward, carpus with three subsegments, first subsegment 1.83-2.09 times as long as second subsegment, third subsegment subequal in length to first subsegment; first subsegment 2.58-2.76 times as long as wide, second subsegment 1.18-1.26 times as long as wide, third subsegment 2.13-2.35 times as long as wide. Cutting edges of chela not denticulate, outer margin of fingers with long simple setae, tip of fixed finger and dactylus armed with three spines, respectively (Fig. 1 E). Third to fifth pereiopods similar in shape, but slightly decreasing in size. Third pereiopod (Fig. 1 F) nearly reaching to distal end of scaphocerite when extended forward; inner border of dactylus armed with 14-16 spines, with distal four spines largest (Fig. 1 G); propodus 6.53-6.98 times as long as wide, armed with 6-7 pairs of spines on ventral margin; carpus 2.89-3.12 times as long as wide, armed with one lateral spine; merus 6.38-6.54 times as long as wide, armed with 2-3 lateral spines. Merus of fourth and fifth pereiopod armed with 1-2 lateral spines.

Third pleomere geniculately curved. Ratio dorsal length/height of the sixth abdominal segment 1.86-1.97. First pleopod of male with appendix masculine shorter than appendix interna, furnished with five apical setae. Telson longer than sixth pleomere, posterior margin armed with four pairs of spines, without intermediate spinule or seta; dorsal surface armed with two pairs of spines situated on distal 0.35-0.41 and 0.59-0.62 telson length, respectively.

Distribution

The species was previously known to inhabit the western, southern and eastern coastlines of Australia ( d’Udekem d’Acoz 2001) and also recorded by GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/species/5799551) and OBIS (https://obis.org/taxon/515274) from the northern coastline of New Zealand. Our present study reports the occurrence of the species for the first time in the South China Sea, within the north-western Pacific region (Fig. 2 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Hippolyte australiensis (Stimpson, 1860), MBM 129577, male. A carapace and appendages, lateral; B antennular, dorsal; C scaphocerite, dorsal; D third maxilliped, lateral; E second pereiopod, lateral; F third pereiopod, lateral; G dactylus of the third pereiopod, lateral. Scales: 1.0 mm.

Figure 2. Geographic distribution of Hippolyte australiensis (Stimpson, 1860). Red dot indicates the newly-recorded location.