Review of grapsoid families for the establishment of a new family for Leptograpsodes Montgomery, 1931, and a new genus of Gecarcinidae H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Grapsoidea MacLeay, 1838)
Author
Guinot, Danièle
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, case postale 53, 57 rue Cuvier, F- 75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) guinot @ mnhn. fr (corresponding author)
guinot@mnhn.fr
Author
Ng, Ngan Kee
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543 (Republic of Singapore) dbsngnk @ nus. edu. sg
dbsngnk@nus.edu.sg
Author
Rodríguez Moreno, Paula A.
Direction générale déléguée aux Collections, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, case postale 30, 57 rue Cuvier, F- 75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) martin-lefevre @ mnhn. fr Dedicated to the memory of Michael Türkay (1948 - 2015)
lefevre@mnhn.fr
text
Zoosystema
2018
2018-12-21
40
26
547
604
journal article
9255
10.5252/zoosystema2018v40a26
2697b081-f3fa-4256-a62d-f084ee352b1c
1638-9387
4336858
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E018714D-7CCF-4AB8-A88A-EF033530CA75
Family
GRAPSIDAE
MacLeay, 1838
INCLUDED GENERA. —
Geograpsus
Stimpson, 1858
;
Goniopsis
De Haan, 1833
;
Grapsus
Lamarck, 1801
;
Leptograpsus
H.
Milne Edwards, 1853
;
Metopograpsus
H.
Milne Edwards, 1853
;
Pachygrapsus
Randall, 1840
;
Planes
Bowdich, 1825
.
REMARKS
Morphological comparison of
Leptograpsodidae
n. fam
. with the family
Grapsidae
suffers from the lack of a consistent familial diagnosis for
Grapsidae
. In using the traditional and recently published grapsid morphological characters (
Banerjee 1960
;
Guinot & Bouchard 1998
;
Poore 2004
; N. K.
Ng
et al.
2007
;
Davie
et al.
2015a
;
Köhnk
et al.
2017
), we propose the diagnostic features of the family, essentially based on the
type
species of all genera. The question whether some distinctive features warrant the separation of
Grapsidae
into subfamilies is not the topic of our study.
DIAGNOSIS
Carapace typically quadrilateral to quadrate; surface moderately flat, usually with marked striae, especially on branchial regions (
Banerjee 1960
: figs 1a-e, 5;
Naderloo 2017
: fig. 30.1), exceptionally faint in
Planes
(
Chace 1951
: table 1); anterolateral margins entire or with one, may be two, teeth behind exorbital angle; front wide, much broader than orbits, entire, strongly deflexed, widely overhanging epistome between short eyestalks; suborbital margin running vertically from orbital angle to meet end of suborbital crest directly, no overlap (N. K.
Ng
et al.
2007
: fig. 5B); basal article of antenna immobile, bent; orbit small, open laterally; mxp3 leaving rhomboidal gape; both mxp3 merus and ischium with single longitudinal sulcus and lacking oblique setose crest (N. K.
Ng
et al.
2007
: fig. 7D;
Davie
et al.
2015a
: fig. 71-
2.27N
); flagellum of exopodite usually present, may be strongly reduced or absent (
Geograpsus
); absence of stridulatory suborbital crest; pterygostomial region sparingly setose, with setae simple, plumose, never arranged in reticulated pattern; male chelipeds homochelous (except in
Metopograpsus
, merus usually with developed spines on anterodistal margin, fingers apically spoon-shaped; walking legs robust, distinctly flattened, usually armed with spines and bristles; mobile setae on dactylus of P2-P5; sterno-pleonal cavity without rim at level of telson, may be a faint rim; male gonopore next to articular membrane adjacent to P5 coxa (sternal emergence being proved by dissection), and opening in middle of sternite 8 thus far from suture 7/8 (except in
Planes
); penis elongate, narrow (e.
g.
Grapsus
) or wide, short (e.g.
Metopograpsus
), partially calcified; G1 short, sinuous or slightly curved, even twisted, usually with dense setae on apical part; pleon with six free somites plus telson; pleonal-locking mechanism of press-button
type
always present (but absent in
Geograpsus
), functional throughout life, usually very marked, close to suture 5/6 or slightly remote (
Goniopsis
), with round or acute buttons, exceptionally developed and half-moon-shaped (
Metopograpsus
); small but distinct socket usually next to intestine (
Hartnoll 1965
;
Guinot & Bouchard 1998
: fig. 22;
Köhnk
et al.
2017
: figs 16, 17); vulva with operculum (McLay & Sal Moyan 2016). Tufts of hydrophilic setae generally lacking, but may be present between P3/P
4 in
some species of
Grapsus
, in
Goniopsis
,
Metopograpsus
,
Pachygrapsus
(
Oliveira 2014
: table 2) and chiefly in
Geograpsus
, the single terrestrial grapsid species (
Greenaway 1988
: fig. 7.2.B-D;
Paulay & Starmer 2011
).
ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS
For the sternal and male genital characters of
Grapsidae
that must be added, our diagnosis is based on the
type
genus
Grapsus
and its
type
species
G. grapsus
, but we have extended our study to numerous other genera.
Proepistome as a broad, more or less narrow, anteriorly convex (
Grapsus
) or straight (
Goniopsis
) septum, meeting frontal margin (
Banerjee 1960
: figs 2h, o, 4d;
Komai
et al.
2004
: fig. 2B; N. K.
Ng
et al.
2007
: fig. 6B;
Bouchard
et al.
2013
: fig. 20D, F). Thoracic sternum wide (
Fig. 8A, B
) (
Guinot & Bouchard 1998
: fig. 22A-C); sternites 1-2 fused forming a small, more or less triangular plate, a trace of their separation may be however recognisable by a ridge or faint sulcus, lined by setae; suture 2/3 complete (
Banerjee 1960
: figs 1f, 4a, i); sternite 3 completely fused to sternite 4 without indication of a dorsally visible demarcation, thus absence of any suture 3/4; sutures 4/5-7/8 incomplete; sternite 7 with incomplete sulcus; suture 6/7 more obliquely directed forwards in
Metopograpsus
and
Leptograpsus
; episternite 7 variously shaped, for example extending posteriorly on the P5 coxa in
Goniopsis
(see
Guinot 1979
: fig. 52B); posterior emargination weak; sternite 8 very developed, largely exposed medially; no portion visible dorsally when the pleon is closed; suture 7/8 rather long, however shorter than preceding ones; median line long, present on sternite 8 and extending on sternite 7 (
Fig. 8B, C
:
Grapsus grapsus
) (
Guinot & Bouchard 1998
: fig. 22A:
G. tenuicrustatus
Herbst, 1783
; fig. 22B, D:
Metopograpsus latifrons
). No medial bridge.
A male gonopore opening in the middle of sternite 8, thus far from suture 7/8, with a clear posteriormost location in relation to suture 7/8, occurs in all
Grapsidae
(
Guinot 1979
: fig. 52A) except in
Planes
. The penis emerges as a very thick, cylindrical tube (
Fig. 8C
) (
Guinot 1979
: fig. 52A-C;
Sternberg
et al.
1999
;
Karasawa & Kato 2001
: fig. 2.19; N. K.
Ng
et al.
2007
: fig. 4D;
Guinot
et al.
2013
: fig. 23D), sometimes with a calcified proximal portion (e.g. in
Metopograpsus
). This pattern of genital disposition is shared by all examined genera, except by
Planes
(e.g.
P. minutus
), in which the gonopore is close to suture 7/8, the penis is short, lodged in a depression below suture 7/8, with only a tiny, hardly visible, sclerotised basal portion (
Guinot 1979
: fig. 52C).
Grapsids may swim; few of these do so extensively and exhibit significant swimming morphological adaptations, except species of
Planes
, which are wholly pelagic, clinging to floating marine animals such as sea turtles (
Frick
et al.
2011
), and show fringes of setae on pereiopods for swimming ability (
Hartnoll 1971
: fig. 6d).
Leptograpsodidae
n. fam
. shares with
Grapsidae
: four postfrontal lobes, oblique striae on branchial regions, oblique ridges on the lateral surfaces of meri of P2-P5, an effective pleonal-locking mechanism, especially in
Grapsus
, in which the buttons on sternite 5 are generally acute (
Köhnk
et al.
2017
: fig. 16a).
COMPARISON WITH
LEPTOGRAPSODIDAE
N. FAM
.
Leptograpsodidae
n. fam
. (
Figs 1-3
) differs from
Grapsidae
by: the shape of carapace with strongly convex margins, the proepistome obviously inserted into the frontal margin, the pleonal sockets close to the border of pleonal segment 6 (vs close to the intestine and not bordered by lateral edge of the pleon in
Grapsidae,
Köhnk
et al.
2017
: figs 16, 17). Another distinctive feature is the persistence of the locking mechanism in adult females of
Leptograpsodes
(at least until cw carapace
20.6 mm
), whereas it is lost in adult female grapsids. Pouches with tufts of hydrophilic setae are present between all pereiopods (generally absent in
Grapsidae
or, when present, only between P3/P4 such as in the terrestrial
Geograpsu
s).
The main sternal features that differentiate
Leptograpsodidae
n. fam
. from
Grapsidae
are: thoracic sternum less widened; sternite 1-2 individualised with suture 1/2 present (no suture 1/2 or only a sulcus or ridge in
Grapsidae
); a bridge at level of suture 6/7 (absent in
Grapsidae
); sternite 8 not developed, unexposed medially, no median line at this level (much expanded and largely exposed medially, with median line on sternite 8, in
Grapsidae
); a small portion of sternite 8 and also a tiny proximal part of penis dorsally visible when pleon is folded (not visible in
Grapsidae
); sterno-pleonal rim at level of telson rather thick (no rim or only faint rim in
Grapsidae
).
Leptograpsodidae
n. fam
., the first gecarcinid subclade (
Cardisoma
,
Discoplax
and
Tuerkayana
n. gen.
) and
Grapsidae
share the same pattern of the genital region, except that the penis of
Grapsidae
, instead to be basally wedged above the P5 coxo-sternal condyle, is fully developed at its exit.
Previously suggested (
Cuesta
et al.
1997
;
Schubart
et al.
2006
;
Schubart & Cuesta 2010
) but also questioned (
Kitaura
et al.
2002
;
Wetzer
et al.
2009
), the monophyly of
Grapsidae
(
Leptograpodes
being excluded) was confirmed by
Ip
et al.
(2015
: figs 1-3) based on five molecular markers, including mitochondrial DNA and nuclear protein-coding markers. These results, which corroborated the 2011 Schubart’s anlysis, showed with strong support: a paraphyletic
Pachygrapsus
(see also
Wetzer
et al.
2009
;
Schubart 2011
;
van der Meij & Schubart 2014
); a paraphyletic
Planes
;
Metopograpsus
with clear differences in the number of zoeal stages (only 5) and also with distinctive morphological characters, so its basal position in the family (
Cuesta
et al.
2011
: table 3;
Landeira & Cuesta 2012
; see also
van der Meij & Schubart 2014
). According to genetic studies,
Metopograpsus
was subdivided into two main clusters: the sister species
M. thukuhar
and
M. messor
on the one hand, and the remaining four species on the other (
Fratini
et al.
2018
: fig. 2). From their phylogenetic tree,
Wang
et al.
(2018a
: fig. 1) found that
M. quadridentatus
Stimpson, 1858
and (
Grapsus tenuicrustatus
[
Grapsus tenuicrustatus
(Herbst, 1783)
+
Pachygrapsus crassipes
] clustered in one branch with high nodal support value.
LARVAL CHARACTERS
From a larval point of view, the grapsids were divided into two groups: 1) a first group, weakly supported, consisting of the monophyletic
Goniopsis
and a big cluster of all the
Grapsus
species together with three species of
Pachygrapsu
s; 2) a second group that was a large assemblage of the remaining genera, e.g. the monophyletic
Geograpsus
, the monotypic
Leptograpsus
that branched off as a distinct clade, and all other species of
Pachygrapsus
(including the
type
species
P. crassipes
).