Brachyuran crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the remote oceanic Archipelago Trindade and Martin Vaz, South Atlantic Ocean
Author
In, First Published
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-06-02
5146
1
129
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5146.1.1
11755334
7626155
52C3E5E3-80B6-49DB-BC9C-194560D491F7
Ranilia muricata
H. Milne Edwards, 1837
(
Fig. 9A–C
)
Ranilia muricata
H. Milne Edwards, 1837: 196
.
Ranilia saldanhai
H.
Rodrigues
da
Costa
, 1970: 33
[
Type
locality: north of
Recife
,
Pernambuco
,
7°55’S
,
34°48’W
,
26–60 m
].
Trindade specimens.
1 specimen (MNRJ unnumbered), R/V “Astro Garoupa”, REVIZEE, Trindade Island, stn C5 R49, 20°31’08.4S, 29°21’03.6W, 10.vii.2001, 57 m [not examined. See below under remarks].
FIGURE 9.
A–C,
Ranilia saldanhai
H.
Rodrigues da Costa, 1970
, holotype, male, cl 39 mm, cw 33 mm (MZUSP 8223) (junior synonym of
R. muricata
H. Milne Edwards, 1837
). A, Habitus, dorsal view (tip of rostrum broken). B, C, Left cheliped, mesial and lateral view, respectively. D, E,
Symethis variolosa
(Fabicius, 1793)
, female, cl 8.9 mm, cw 13.1 mm (MZUSP 41574). D, E, Habitus and detail of anterior region, respectively, dorsal view. Scales: A–D, 10 mm. Photographs (A–C) by J. Colavite.
Comparative material examined.
Ranilia muricata
:
Martinique
:
1 female
(
MZUSP 17301
)
,
R/V “Le Noroit”, IGMAR 2
Expedition
, stn BI-246,
14°52.68700’N
,
61°06.12000’W
, 1993, volcanic sand [
J. Poupin
don.].
1 female
(
MZUSP 17339
)
,
ibidem
, stn BI-243,
14°53.31700’N
,
61°07.6500’W
, 1993, volcanic sand [J.
Poupin
don.].
1 female
(
MZUSP 17331
)
,
IGMAR 3
Expedition
, stn 415,
14°55.59’N
,
61°05.13’W
, IFREMER coll.,
13.ix.1994
, dredge [
J. Poupin
don.].
Brazil
:
Espírito Santo
:
1 male
(
MZUSP 41476
)
,
R/V “Marion Dufresne”,
TAAF
MD55/ Brésil Expedition, Vitória–Trindade Seamount Chain, Davis Bank, stn 23 DC40,
20°39’S
,
34°41’W
,
15.v.1987
, sandy shell,
60 m
.
Ranilia saldanhai
: Brazil: Pernambuco:
holotype
male, cl
39 mm
, cw
33 mm
(
MZUSP 8223
)
[junior synonym of
R. muricata
], R/V “Almirante Saldanha”, north of
Recife
,
7°55’S
,
34°48’W
,
26–60 m
.
Distribution.
North Carolina, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and
Brazil
(
Pernambuco
, Davis Bank in the Vitória–Trindade Seamount Chain, and Trindade Island) (
Melo 1996
;
Serejo
et al.
2006
;
Felder
et al.
2009
; Tavares
et al.
2017).
Ecological notes.
Very little is known about the biology of
Ranilia muricata
. It has been reported from soft bottoms including sand, loose rubble, and sand and broken shells between 9 and
102 m
.
Rathbun (1937) reported on crab fragments recovered from fish stomachs. This species is also preyed by the gray tilefish
Caulolatilus microps
Goode & Bean (
Ross 1982
)
.
Remarks.
Ranilia saldanhai
is only known from its holotype (Fig. 9A–C). Rodrigues da Costa (1970) briefly compared
R. saldanhai
to
R. muricata
, while mentioning that the two species were morphologycally close to each other. Gomes-Corrêa (1970) uncritically accepted
R. saldanhai
as a valid species, whereas
Goeke (1980)
opined that an in-depth comparison between
R. saldanhai
and
R. muricata
was necessary. Neither of the two authors examined the
holotype
of
R. saldanhai
.
Melo & Campos Junior (1994)
sunk
R. saldanhai
into the synonymy of
R. muricata
upon the examination of the
holotype
of the former species. We have reexamined the
holotype
of
R. saldanhai
and found that the defining characters advanced by
Rodrigues
da
Costa
(1970)
to support
R. saldanhai
are not consistent and cannot be used to differentiate
R. saldanhai
from
R. muricata
. In the absence of other characters to separate the two species, we agree that
R. saldanhai
should indeed be considered a junior synonym of
R. muricata
.
Ranilia muricata
is reported here for the first time from the Vitória–Trindade Seamount Chain (Davis Bank). The single specimen reported by
Serejo et al. (2006)
from the Trindade Island (MNRJ unnumbered) was not found for examination.