Harpinia karamani, King, Rachael A., 2004

King, Rachael A., 2004, A description of Harpinia karamani sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Phoxocephalidae) from the Mediterranean, with a redescription of Harpinia truncata Sars, 1891, Zootaxa 724, pp. 1-10 : 2-6

Harpinia karamani sp. nov.

(figs. 1–2)

Harpinia truncata (not Sars) — Karaman, 1973:74, figs XV–XVII. — Bellan­Santini, 1985:294. — Karaman, 1993:650 –652, fig. 446.

Material examined.— HOLOTYPE: ‘ Harpinia falsa ’, NW di Ischia Porto, Napoli 32, mud, 110 m, 17/1/1970, U. Schiecke, MVRCr 433. PARATYPES: ‘ Harpinia falsa ’, NW di Ischia Porto, Napoli 32, mud, 110 m, 17/1/1970, U. Schiecke, MVRCr 433. Other material: ‘ Harpinia falsa ’, Forio sand banks, Ischia, 150 m, 1/8/1970, U. Schiecke, MVRCr in alcohol without number. ‘ Harpinia truncata ’, Napoli 15, MVRCr in alcohol without number. ‘ Harpinia truncata ’, Forio, Ischia, 100 m, 6/5/1968, U. Schiecke, MVRCr in alcohol without number.

Type Locality.— Ischia, Italy.

Description. — Female. 2.5 mm. Head with lateral edges rounded and not extended into spines. Antenna 1 flagellum with 5–7 articles, accessory flagellum with 4–6 articles. Antenna 2 with developed ensiform process; flagellum with 5–7 articles. Maxilliped palp article 5 very small, with long unguis (3 times length of last article).

Coxae 1–3 without posterodistal marginal spines, each with 4–5 marginal plumose setae. Gnathopod 1 propodus narrow, twice the length of carpus, posterodistal margin developed into a small blunt spine with a large robust seta inserted posteriorly; dactylus half length of propodus. Gnathopod 2 propodus wider than in Gnathopod 1, posterodistal margin produced into a large blunt spine with robust seta inserted posteriorly; dactylus half length of propodus. Pereopods 3–4 carpus with 3–4 plumose long setae and 2–3 distal robust setae on the anterior margin; propodus with 2 distal robust setae reaching to end of dactylus; dactylus slightly shorter than propodus. Pereopod 5 with stout articles, dactylus as long as propodus. Pereopod 6 about 3 times the length of pereopod 7; basis posterior margin with lobe, anterior margin with robust plumose setae; dactylus as long as propodus. Pereopod 7 basis short (about twice length of ischium, margin irregularly serrated with 4– 5 moderately sized setae inserted in some serrations, anterodistal corner with two plumose setae reaching past ischium; ischium as long as carpus, anterodistal margin with 1–2 short plumose setae and two very long plumose setae reaching to the dactylus; merus with long distal setae on the anterior and posterior margins; dactylus as long as propodus.

Epimeron 2 with up to 5 marginal plumose setae. Epimeron 3 with 1–2 lateral plumose setae, posterodistal corner with small excavated notch with seta. Uropod 1 peduncle subequal length to rami, with large robust seta distally; rami with up to two robust spines.

Uropod 2 peduncle subequal length to rami, rami relatively free of setae. Uropod 3 peduncle as long as inner ramus, with 3­4 robust setae distally; inner ramus reaching just past article 1 of outer ramus, with distal seta not reaching past outer ramus; outer ramus article 2 long (about ¾ length of article 1), with similar length robust seta inserted subapically. Telson with a pair of dorsolateral setae and subapical setae on each lobe.

Distribution. — At present, known only from Ischia, Italy.

Male. Unknown.

Remarks. — Harpinia truncata and Harpinia karamani sp. nov. are morphologically similar, however, there can be no doubt that H. karamani is a separate species. H. karamani is distinctly smaller (2­3 mm vs. 6+ mm for Norwegian specimens), the basis of pereopod 7 does not have the clearly truncated posterodistal margin of H. truncata and the marginal setae are longer and fewer, also the anterodistal setae on the basis and ischium are much longer than in H. truncata . Importantly, article 2 of the outer ramus of uropod 3 is large and the lengths of the apical seta of the rami are distinctly shorter than in H. truncata . While some variation in the number of setae has been seen in different sized individuals, the length of the uropodal articles and the shape of the basis in pereopod 7 are regarded as highly conserved characters. These character differences, combined with a lack of recorded individuals from the British Isles supports the designation of a new species and not a disjunct distribution of H. truncata .

Karaman (1993) reported some variability in the specimens he examined. The variation included the strength of the serration of the basis of pereopod 7, the presence/absence of a lobe on the posterior margin of pereopod 6 basis, the number of dorsal setae on pleonites, and the number of lateral setae on epimeron 3. In this examination, it was noted that smaller individuals had less distinct marginal serration on the basis of pereopod 7 than found in larger individuals. Similarly, the number of lateral setae on epimeron 3 varied with the size of the individual (1 in smaller individuals, up to 2 in larger individuals). No clear variation or pattern was found regarding the posterodistal expansion of the basis of pereopod 6 or in the number of setae present dorsally on the pleonites.

Within the material labelled as ‘ Harpinia falsa ’ examined in this investigation were equivalent sized (2­3 mm) specimens of H. crenulata . H. crenulata was easily distinguished from H. karamani by the crenulated basis of pereopod 7, with long setae, when examined under a microscope. It is possible that more specimens of H. karamani may be present in other Harpinia collection material from the Mediterranean, where small specimens have not been closely examined.

Etymology. — This species is named for Gordan S. Karaman who detected the unusual specimens of ‘ Harpinia falsa ’ and ‘ Harpinia truncata ’ in the Verona collections.