A revision of the genus AlIJinocaris Williams and Chace (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea: Alvinocarididae), with descriptions of a new genus and a new species of AlIJinocaris
Author
Komai, Tomoyuki
Author
Segonzac, Michel
text
Journal of Natural History
2005
2005-04-30
39
15
1111
1175
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222930400002499
journal article
10.1080/00222930400002499
1464-5262
4581494
AlIJinocaris stactophila
Williams, 1988
(
Figures 15–18
,
29
)
Alυinocaris
stactophila
Williams 1988
, p 272
(part),
Figures 5–7
;
Shank et al. 1999
, p 246 (Table 1), 247 (Table 2),
Figure 2
;
Kikuchi and Hashimoto 2000
, p 146, 148 (key).
Material examined
Gulf
of
Mexico
.
Johnson-Sea-Link
: dive 1879,
Bush Hill
hydrocarbon seep, about
129 km
south of
Louisiana
,
27
°
46.949N
,
91
°
39.349E
,
534 m
,
28 September 1986
, one male CL 7.0 mm (
holotype
;
USNM 234292
)
.
Alυinocaris
sp. 1 (
allotype
of
A. stactophila
), same data as for
holotype
of
A. stactophila
, one female CL
6.8 mm
(USNM 23493).
Description
Body moderately robust for genus.
Rostrum (
Figure 15A
) directed forward, straight, 0.42 times as long as carapace, slightly reaching beyond distal margin of first segment of antennular peduncle; dorsal margin armed with 16 teeth, including eight teeth on rostrum proper and eight relatively small teeth on carapace posterior to orbital margin, posteriormost tooth arising from 0.28 of carapace length; ventral margin armed with one small subdistal tooth. Carapace (
Figure 15A, B
) with postrostral median ridge moderately high, extending to 0.60 of carapace length, dorsal angle 170
°
; pterygostomian tooth weakly produced anteriorly, slightly exceeding antennal tooth; post-antennal groove shallow; branchial region not particularly inflated.
Third abdominal pleuron unarmed (
Figure 15C
). Fourth abdominal pleuron with small posteroventral tooth and additional two or three tiny teeth on posterior margin. Fifth abdominal somite similarly armed with strong posteroventral tooth and additional three or four tiny teeth. Sixth abdominal somite 1.38 times longer than height. Telson (
Figure 15D
) reaching posterior margin of uropodal endopod, 3.00 times as long as anterior width and 4.70 times as long as posterior width; armed with six dorsolateral spines; posterior margin (
Figure 15E
) moderately convex, armed with eight pairs of spines (longest second pair noticeably curved mesially, mesial six pairs subequal in length).
Antennular peduncle (
Figure 15B
) moderately stout, second segment 1.80 times longer than wide. Antennal scale (
Figure 16A
) 0.46 times as long as carapace, 2.00 times longer than wide; lateral margin straight, slightly diverging anteriorly against dorsal median ridge; distolateral tooth directed forward, falling short of broadly rounded distal margin of blade.
Figure 15.
Alυinocaris
stactophila
Williams, 1988
. (A) Carapace and cephalic appendages, lateral; (B) anterior part of carapace and cephalic appendages, dorsal; (C) third to sixth abdominal somite, lateral; (E) telson and left uropod, dorsal; (F) posterior margin of telson, dorsal. Holotype male from Bush Hill hydrocarbon seep, Gulf of Mexico (534 m) (CL 7.0 mm; USNM 234291).
Figure 16.
Alυinocaris
stactophila
Williams, 1988
. (A) Left antennal scale, dorsal (marginal setae omitted); (B) left first pereopod, lateral; (C) chela of left first pereopod, outer; (D) left third pereopod, lateral; (E) dactylus and distal part of propodus of left third pereopod, lateral. Holotype male from Bush Hill hydrocarbon seep, Gulf of Mexico (534 m) (CL 7.0 mm; USNM 234291).
First pereopod (
Figure 16B
) as illustrated; greatest height of palm about 0.40 times length of chela (
Figure 16C
); dactylus longer than palm. Third pereopod (
Figure 16D
) moderately slender; dactylus (
Figure 16E
) with strongly erect accessory spines on ventral margin, of which second and third accessory spines longer than distalmost accessory spine; carpus 0.66 times as long as propodus; merus 7.44 times as long as greatest height.
Size
Only the male
holotype
has been available for study. CL 7.0 mm. TL ca
25 mm
.
Distribution and habitat
Figure 17.
Alυinocaris
sp 1. (A) Carapace and cephalic appendages, lateral; (B) anterior part of carapace and cephalic appendages, dorsal (left part of carapace deformed); (C) third to sixth abdominal somites, lateral; (D) telson and left uropods, dorsal (marginal setae on uropod omitted); (E) posterior margin of telson, dorsal. Allotype female of
Alυinocaris
stactophila
Williams, 1988
from Bush Hill hydrocarbon seep, Gulf of Mexico (CL 6.8 mm; USNM 234293).
Figure 18.
Alυinocaris
sp. 1. (A) Right antennal scale, dorsal (marginal setae omitted); (B) right first pereopod, lateral; (C) chela of right first pereopod, outer; (D) right third pereopod, lateral; (E) dactylus and distal part of propodus of right third pereopod, lateral. Allotype female of
Alυinocaris
stactophila
Williams, 1988
from Bush Hill hydrocarbon seep, Gulf of Mexico (CL 6.8 mm; USNM 234293).
Known
with certainty only from the cold seep area at
Louisiana
Slope
in the
Gulf
of
Mexico
(
Figure 28
), at a depth of
534 m
.
Remarks
Alυinocaris
stactophila
was described on the basis of nine specimens from the
central Gulf
of
Mexico
, of which the
holotype
male and
allotype
female have been available for study.
The
holotype
differs from the
allotype
in several respects, although the sizes are similar to one another (CL 7.0 mm in the
holotype
,
6.8 mm
in the
allotype
).
The
ventral margin of the rostrum is armed with one tiny subdistal tooth in the
holotype
(
Figure 15A
)
, while in the
allotype
it is unarmed (
Figure 17A
). The fourth abdominal pleuron bears three (left) or four (right) teeth on the posterior margin (including the posteroventral tooth) in the
holotype
(cf.
Figure 15C
), but it is only bluntly pointed at the posteroventral angle in the
allotype
(
Figure 17C
). The posterior margin of the telson is armed with eight pairs of spines, of which the second pair are longest and mesially curved in the
holotype
(
Figure 15E
), rather than having two pairs of lateral spines and 12 long plumose setae in the
allotype
(
Figure 17E
). The second segment of the antennular peduncle is more slender in the
holotype
than in the
allotype
(
Figures 15B
,
17B
). The chela of the first pereopod in the male
holotype
is much stouter than in the female
allotype
(
Figures 16B, C
,
18B, C
). The third to fifth pereopods are more slender in the
holotype
than in the
allotype
(
Figures 16D
,
18D
). The accessory spines on the dactylus of the third pereopods of the
holotype
are more strongly erect, of which the second and third spines are longer than the distalmost spine (
Figure 16E
).
In
the
allotype
,
the accessory spines are less erect and increase in length distally (
Figure 18E
).
Although
only two specimens have been available for comparison, the differences in the armature on the posterior margin of the telson and the armature of the dactylus of the third pereopod, at least, strongly suggest that they represent two separate species.
Therefore
, the
allotype
is here treated as a species of uncertain taxonomic status. A final decision will be made when an adequate series of adult specimens from the
Gulf
of
Mexico
is available for study.
Here
A. stactophila
is re-diagnosed on the basis of the
holotype
.
As mentioned before, the possession of spines other than two lateral pairs on the posterior margin of the telson links
A. stactophila
to
A. lusca
and
A. breυitelsonis
. Differences among the three species are discussed under ‘‘Remarks’’ for
A. lusca
.
Alυinocaris
stactophila
somewhat resembles
A. aeilliamsi
particularly in the short rostrum. Other than the armature on the posterior margin of the telson, the less stout antennular peduncle and the fourth abdominal pleuron armed with more than one posterolateral tooth distinguish
A. stactophila
from
A. aeilliamsi
.