Tymolus daviei Tavares, 1997

Guinot, Danièle & Quenette, Gwenaël, 2005, The spermatheca in podotreme crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Podotremata) and its phylogenetic implications, Zoosystema 27 (2), pp. 267-342 : 309-311

Tymolus daviei Tavares, 1997

Female 8 × 8 mm, paratype, Vanuatu Archipelago, BATHUS 2 (MNHN-B 28946).

For the spermatheca we follow the terminology given by Gordon (1963: 51, fig. 10A) for Tymolus japonicus Stimpson, 1858 . Sutures 7/8 converge medially and end on two small papillae. The terminal apertures are not clearly visible, showing only as two poorly calcified subterminal areas situated at the level of P2, thus anterior to the female gonopores ( Fig. 23A ). We assume that they correspond to slits, to a place where the two sheets of the endosternites 7/8 are not joined. The spermatheca consists of a developed pocket (the chamber) with an enlarged, inflated anterior part, that occupies large part of sternite 8, and a narrow posterior one that corresponds to a shorter invagination of endosternite 7/8. The two chambers are largely in contact with the sternal surface but are not fused to it (they may be easily detached) since they are invaginations of the phragma 7/8. The two pockets are almost contiguous, clearly visible through the thin sternal wall, and are filled with a whitish material, probably sperm masses ( Fig. 23B ). The apex of G2 resembles a needle ( Gordon 1963: 52, fig. 11A for T. japonicus Stimpson, 1858 ), that corresponds to the small spermathecal opening.

The spermatheca was figured in another cyclodorippine, Corycodus decorus Tavares, 1993 (Tavares 1993: fig. 9b; see also Guinot & Tavares 2003: fig. 10I): only narrow slits are present.

Figures

FIG. 23. — A, B, Tymolus daviei Tavares,1997 (Cyclodorippidae, Cyclodorippinae),female 8 × 8 mm,paratype,Vanuatu (MNHN-B 28946); C, Krangalangia spinosa (Zarenkow, 1970) (Cyclodorippidae, Xeinostomatinae), female 7.1 × 6.5 mm, New Caledonia (MNHN); A, C, thoracic sternum; B, thoracic axial skeleton. Abbreviations: a, spermathecal aperture; br, transverse bridge; cx1-cx4, P1-P3 coxae; g, female gonopore; l.m., median line; s, spermatheca; 4-8, thoracic sternites 4-8; 4/5-7/8, sternal sutures 4/5 to 7/8. Scale bars: A, 2 mm; B, 10 mm; C, 1 mm.