Mursia flamma Galil, 1993

Spiridonov, Vassily A. & Apel, Michael, 2007, A new species and new records of deep-water Calappidae (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Indian Ocean with a key to the Mursia Desmarest, 1823 species of the region, Journal of Natural History 41 (45 - 48), pp. 2851-2890 : 2880-2884

Mursia flamma Galil, 1993

( Figures 2F , 9B )

? Mursia armata curtispina: Doflein 1904, p 40 , Plate 17, Figure 2 , Plate 18, Figure 3 [? not Mursia curtispina Miers, 1886 ]. Mursia flamma Galil 1993, p 362 –363, Figures 7a , 9a, b , 10c, d ; Crosnier 1997b, p 755 –756 (discussion of differences to Mursia coseli ), Figures 3F , 5B .

Mursia armata: Zarenkov 1994, p 99 –102 (part: only Vitiaz stations 2603, 2622, 2633, 2644, and 2635) [not Mursia armata de Haan, 1837 ].

Material

Strait of Mozambique: RV Vitiaz Cruise 17, St. 2622, 21 ° 12.89S, 35 ° 41.89E, depth 490– 500 m, shrimp trawl: one female ( IORAS, unregistered); RV Vitiaz Cruise 17 St. 2633, 25 ° 25.89S, 33 ° 54.89E, depth 420–430 m, shrimp trawl, 24 November 1988: one male ( IORAS, unregistered); RV Vitiaz Cruise 17, St. 2635, 25 ° 059S, 35 ° 15.39E, depth 210– 230 m, shrimp trawl, 25 November 1988: two females ( IORAS, unregistered). Off Madagascar: RV Vitiaz Cruise 17, St. 2603, 11 ° 069S, 48 ° 18.69E, depth 380 m, 12 November 1988: one male ( IORAS unregistered). RV Vitiaz Cruise 17, St. 2644, 22 ° 19.59S, 43 ° 06.19E, depth 330 m, shrimp trawl: one female juvenile ( IORAS, unregistered). RV Professor Mesyatsev FAO-VNIRO Cruise , off Mozambique (?), exact locality unknown, B. G. Ivanov coll.: one male, one female ( ZMMU Ma 5354). Specimens recorded as M. armata curtispina by Doflein 1904. Indonesia: RV Valdivia St. 199, 0 ° 15.59N, 98 ° 049E, S. of Nias Island, depth 470 m: one male, one female ( ZMB 13662) .

Type locality

Madagascar.

Type material

Male holotype ( MNHN B24371) and numerous paratypes deposited in the MNHN; one paratype in the South African Museum ( Galil 1993) .

Size

The holotype measures CL 557.9 mm, CW 568.2 mm, MCW 576.6 mm. The female specimens from the Straits of Mozambique ( ZMMU 2635 ) measure, CL 547.4 mm, CW 556.8 mm, MCW 564.3 mm and CL546.5 , CW555.6 , MCW 564.8 mm .

Habitat

The overwhelming majority of records are from a depth range of 300–510 m. The shallowest station where we recorded the species had a depth of 210–230 m. Galil (1993), however, indicates it from St. 3 of Mascareignes III Cruise (22 ° 27.39S, 43 ° 079E) at a depth of 35 m.

Distribution

Off Madagascar and along east African coast from Natal to Tanzania; West of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Remarks

An important character not mentioned in the original description of the species, but seen both in the photographs of type specimens ( Galil 1993, Figure 7 ; Crosnier 1997b, Figure 5B ) and in our material, is an extra pair of tubercles located between the inner branchial and median rows of tubercles on the carapace. They may be indistinct in juvenile specimens. Contrary to the description given by Galil, the frontal median lobes of M. flamma are rounded, not triangular. The female genital opening and surrounding cuticular field are similar to those in M. bicristimana , but are located a greater distance from the sternite edge and the mesial eminence is much less pronounced and more regularly shaped than in M. bicristimana .

Examination of the specimens collected by the Deutsche Tiefsee-Expedition off Nias Island, west of Sumatra and published by Doflein (1904) as Mursia armata curtispina Miers, 1886 , revealed that these specimens correspond better with the description of M. flamma Galil, 1993 than with that of M. curtispina . In particular, the surface and anterolateral border of the carapace are more coarsely granulated than in M. curtispina , and the patterns are identical to those of M. flamma from East Africa. The median tooth on the posterior margin is not as small as in M. curtispina and the teeth forming the lowest row of tubercles on the outer face of the palm are more elevated and sharper than in M. curtispina . Furthermore, the Go/1 of the male from Nias agrees well with that of M. flamma from East Africa. Since, however, M. curtispina had been described on the basis of a single female specimen, comparison of that character is not possible.

Poore (2004) reported M. curtispina to occur in Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territories, Queensland, and New South Wales). However, the lateral spine of the figured specimen ( Poore 2004, Figure 97b) is about a quarter of the maximal carapace width. In that character this specimen is different from M. flamma and thus it is possible that M. curtispina or a similar taxon occurs in the easternmost part of the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast.

Key to the Indian Ocean species of Mursia

1. Posterior margin of carapace arcuate, entire; suborbital tooth subquadrate; front pointed................... M. cristiata

– Posterior margin bi- or trilobate; suborbital tooth triangular; front trilobate.. 2

2. Lateral carapace spines minute, less than 0.05 carapace width; lateral frontal lobes more prominent than median; outer surface of cheliped palm covered with acuminate granules and tubercles; upper and lower margins of pereiopodal meri with conical tubercles........... M. aspera Alcock, 1899

– Lateral carapace spines more than 0.05 carapace width; lateral frontal lobes less prominent than median; outer surface of cheliped palm more or less coarsely granular with rows of large lobes or teeth; upper and lower margins of pereiopodal meri granular, but lacking conical tubercles........... 3

3. Lowest row of tubercles on outer face of cheliped palm consisting of three widely separated teeth or lobes................. 4

– Lowest row of tubercles on outer face of cheliped either consisting of four teeth or lobes or of fused teeth forming a more or less continuous ridge..... 6

4. Posterior margin of carapace indistinctly trilobate with hardly recognizable flattened median lobe; merus of cheliped bispinose, sometimes with an additional sharpened proximal tubercle............. M. africana

– Posterior margin of carapace distinctly trilobate with sharply triangular lateral teeth; merus of cheliped trispinose.............. 5

5. Upper margin of pereiopodal meri and carpi distinctly granular; lateral carapace spines 0.07–0.20 times carapace width (depending on size).... M. flamma

– Upper margin of pereiopodal meri and carpi minutely granular; lateral carapace spines about 0.20–0.25 times carapace width....... M. curtispina

6. Merus of cheliped bispinose or trispinose with proximal spine very small or indistinct..................... 7

– Merus of cheliped quadrispinose, but fourth spine can be small or even indistinct 9

7. Merus of cheliped bispinose................ 8

– Merus of cheliped trispinose, but with very small and sometimes almost indistinct third spine....... M. bicristimana (specimens from the Andamans)

8. Outer face of palm closely and sharply granular; lowest row of tubercles on outer face of palm forming an unevenly trilobed continuous ridge.................. M. bicristimana sensu Alcock and Anderson

– Outer face of palm moderately granular; lowest row of tubercles on outer face of palm almost completely fused, forming a nearly smooth ridge.............. M. bicristimana (specimens from the Gulf of Aden)

9. Tip of Go/2 short and coiled (corkscrew-shaped); posterior border of carapace with median lobe broadly triangular and similar in size to laterals M. minuta n. sp.

– Tip of Go/2 not coiled, nearly reaching junction with basal part; posterior border of carapace with median lobe smaller than laterals........ 10

10. Length/width ratio of the merus of fifth pereiopod.3; posterior border of carapace with indistinct median lobe........... M. coseli

– Length/width ratio of the merus of fifth pereiopod,3; posterior border of carapace with prominent median lobe............ 11

11. Outer surface of palm bearing four separate teeth....... M. danigoi *

– Outer surface of palm bearing incompletely fused lobes forming granular ridge above lower margin............. M. sp. aff. danigoi

* M. danigoi has not been recorded from the Indian Ocean, but is included in the key due to its similarity to the specimen from Saya de Malha identified as M. sp. aff. danigoi .

Figures

Figure 2. Dorsal view of distal margin of cheliped merus. (A) Mursia africana, male, CL 30.4 mm (IORAS, unregistered), left cheliped; (B) M. africana, juvenile male, CL 14.7 mm (SMF 29497), left cheliped; (C) Mursia aff. danigoi, male, CL 52.5 mm (IORAS, unregistered), right cheliped; (D) Mursia bicristimana, male, CL 50.0 mm (ZMMU Ma 5353), right cheliped; (E) M. bicristimana, female, CL 37.0 mm (SMF 22942), right cheliped; (F) Mursia flamma, female, CL 46.3 mm (IORAS, unregistered), right cheliped; (G) Mursia minuta, male holotype, CL 17.1 mm (NHM 1907.5.22), right cheliped; (H) M. minuta, male, CL 19.5 mm (NHM 1898.8.26.3), right cheliped.

Figure 3. Gonopods 2 (Go/2). (A) Mursia africana, left Go/2, abdominal face, juvenile male, CL 14.7 mm (SMF 29497); (B) M. africana, left Go/2, abdominal face, CL 30.4 mm (IORAS, unregistered); (C) Mursia bicristimana, left Go/2, abdominal face, CL 50.0 mm (ZMMU Ma 5353); (D) M. bicristimana, left Go/2, terminal part, same specimen as in (C); (E) Mursia aff. danigoi, left Go/2, terminal part, abdominal face, CL 52.5 mm (IORAS, unregistered).

Figure 5. Mursia bicristimana, male, Gulf of Aden, CL 48.4 mm (SMF 22942). (A) Dorsal view; (B) ventral view.

Figure 7. Cheliped palm of Mursia bicristimana. (A) Male, Gulf of Aden, CL 48.4 mm (SMF 22942); (B) female, Nicobar Islands, CL 39.9 mm (ZMB 13660).

Figure 9. Female genital opening. (A) Mursia bicristimana, right genital opening, CL 37.0 mm (SMF 22942); (B) Mursia flamma, right genital opening, CL 46.3 mm (IORAS, unregistered).

Figure 10. Mursia minuta sp. nov. (A, B) Male holotype, CL 17.1 mm (NHM 1907.5.22), dorsal and ventral views, respectively; (C, D) male from Laccadive Islands, CL 19.5 mm (NHM 1898.8.26.3), dorsal and ventral views, respectively.