Ammothella indica Stock, 1954

Child, C. Allan, 2002, Some Pycnogonida from the Eastern (Hasa) District of Saudi Arabia, Journal of Natural History 36 (15), pp. 1805-1821 : 1806-1808

Ammothella indica Stock, 1954 Ammothella indica Stock, 1954: 113–119 , gures 54, 55, 56c, 57a–c; Utinomi, 1971: 331 [early literature]; Nakamura and Child, 1991: 7 [later literature]; Stock, 1994: 27; Child, 1996:

544.

Material examined. Saudi Arabia: ARAMCO stations: Sta. 740222A/1, Ras

Tanura, near coastguard station, intertidal rocks, 22 February 1974 (two, two juv.); Sta. 80-05G-D, Ghazlan, N of Ras Tanura , 16 July 1980 (one with eggs, one, one juv.) .

Northern Area Baseline Survey ( NABS) stations: Sta. 5G-3, 20 November 1981 (one) ; Sta. 5 S-3, 20 November 1981 (one juv.); Sta. 2G-1, March 1982 (one); Sta. 3G-2, April–May 1982 (one juv.).

Tarut Bay stations: Sta. 2TG-1, 14 January 1985 (two juv.); Sta. 2TG-3, 14 January 1985 (one, two, one juv.); Sta. 4TG-2, 12 January 1985 (one, two) .

Distribution. This commonly reported species has a wide Indo-West Paci c distribution. It has been collected from Durban, South Africa, to Papua New Guinea, the Society Islands, the Philippines, Japan and Korea, all in littoral and shallow depths. It is new to the Gulf and Arabian Sea.

Remarks. These 20 specimens from nine stations might suggest that A. indica is common in the Gulf, but with the frequency and volume of collecting conducted, sometimes during more than a decade of sampling, the species was found very infrequently. Like all other new or known pycnogonid species found in the Gulf, it is not common in that locality. It is one of several successful invaders from less saline waters to the south.

This species is easily identi ed by its long slender habitus bearing many long tubular (hollow) and plain (pointed) spines to which detritus often clings.