Some species of Munidopsis from the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Straits and Caribbean Sea (Decapoda: Munidopsidae), with the description of two new species
Author
Macpherson, Enrique
Author
Beuck, Lydia
Author
Freiwald, Andrè
text
Zootaxa
2016
4137
3
405
416
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4137.3.7
737a241a-1a18-4b2b-b933-480b10afbb91
1175-5326
264193
BEA3D7C0-FE5C-4DCA-9A46-EE275B2ACEB
Munidopsis serricornis
(
Lovén, 1852
)
(
Figs. 5
C–D)
Restricted synonymy:
Galathea serricornis
Lovén 1852
: 22
(
Sweden
;
type
lost).
Munidopsis serricornis
.—
Baba
et al
. 2008
: 160
(compilation).—
Matos-Pita & Ramil 2014
: 428
(
Mauritania
,
975–984 m
).—
Cartes
et al
. 2014
: 168
(Bank of Galicia, NW
Spain
,
761–1041 m
).—
Ahyong 2014
: 197
(review of Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean records).
Material examined
. West Florida Slope (Gulf of
Mexico
):
SMF
49250, 1 ovigerous female,
10.1 mm
, RV ‘
Maria
S. Merian’
MSM
20/4 Station GeoB 163
34-1-6
,
ROV
dive 6 subsample 5,
26°20.198’N
,
84°45.672’W
,
522 m
water depth,
27 March 2012
, inside live
Enallopsammia profunda
(Pourtalès, 1867)
colony associated with gastropods, amongst
Coralliophila
sp., ophiuorids, isopods, amphipods,
Scalpellum
sp.
Colour in life
. The present specimen has the carapace and abdomen pale-orange, with whitish median longitudinal stripe; P1–4 pale-orange.
Mayo (1974)
quoted the colour note from Bouvier (1922) who described the freshly captured specimen was "cream white".
Remarks
.
Munidopsis serricornis
was considered a nearly cosmopolitan species distributed in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans (
Baba
et al
. 2008
). However,
Ahyong (2014)
demonstrated the existence of a complex of numerous species in the Indo-West Pacific, suggesting that
M. serricornis
is restricted to both sides of the northern Atlantic, from the Caribbean Sea to
Mauritania
, including the Mediterranean Sea, between 92 and
2165 m
. Nevertheless, some morphological differences, including different colour patterns, in the specimens collected in different localities recommend a revision of the Atlantic material, in order to confirm the existence of a unique or a complex of species.
Mayo (1974)
examined a large collection of
M. serricornis
from both sides of the North Atlantic, including different localities of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico
. She considered that all the specimens she examined belong to the same species, synonymizing
M. bahamensis
Benedict, 1902
(
type
locality: off the coast of Florida) and
M. tenuirostris
Benedict, 1902
(
type
locality: off the coast of
Georgia
) with
M. serricornis
(
type
locality: W coast of
Norway
).
Mayo (1974)
considered that the variations observed in some characters (e.g., shape of the rostrum) are not specific. However, the colour pattern shows some clear differences among specimens from different areas: carapace and abdomen reddish white, whitish or cream white entirely for northeast Atlantic specimens (
Mayo, 1974
;
Ingle & Christiansen 2004
(citing
Lovén 1852
);
Poore
et al.
2011
; EM, personal observations), and pale-orange, with a whitish median longitudinal stripe in the western Atlantic (
Fig. 5
D). The latter colour pattern is observed in
M. treis
Ahyong & Poore, 2004
. We have compared whitish specimens from
Norway
and north-east
Spain
, with the present specimen (pale-orange, with whitish median longitudinal stripe). The rostrum of our specimen seems clearly shorter and wider (as in
M. bahamensis
and
M. tenuirostris
) than in the specimens from East Atlantic (
Norway
, north-east
Spain
, Mediterranean Sea). Therefore, it would be interesting to review this material from the Atlantic Ocean, using morphological and molecular data, in order to confirm the existence of one or more taxa.
Our specimen of
M. serricornis
was collected inside a live
Enallopsammia profunda
colony (
Fig. 5
C–D). The species has been usually recorded on deep-water gorgonians and scleractinian corals, e.g.,
Lophogorgia
spp.,
Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora
oculata
(
Buhl-Mortensen & Mortensen 2004
;
Cartes
et al
. 2014
). These coral communities seem to play an important role in the distribution and abundance of
Munidopsis
(Cordes
et al
. 2008;
Cartes
et al
. 2014
), as well as an important source of food for
Munidopsis
species (Becker
et al
. 2008).
Distribution
. Both sides of the northern Atlantic only, from the Caribbean Sea to
Mauritania
, including the Mediterranean Sea, between 92 and
2165 m
.