Agononida norfocerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012

Poore, Gary C. B. & Andreakis, Nikos, 2014, More species of the Agononida incerta complex revealed by molecules and morphology (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Munididae), Zootaxa 3860 (3), pp. 201-225 : 213-215

Agononida norfocerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012

( Fig. 7)

Agononida norfocerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012: 22 –24, figs 2K, L, 11.

Material examined. PAPUA NEW GUINEA. SE of Manus I.: 02°10'S, 147°17'E, 300 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3693), MNHN IU- 2011-1949* (18 individuals). N of Rabaul: 04°08'S, 151°56'E, 382–389 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3669), MNHN IU- 2011-892 (6 males, 4 females); 04°08'S, 151°58'E, 383–411 m (BIOPAPUA stn DW3668), MNHN IU- 2011-1308 (male, female, 3 juveniles). W of New Hanover I.: 02°14'S, 150°16'E, 490–505 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3654), MNHN IU- 2011-891 (det. E. Macpherson). Tami Island, Huon Gulf: 06°44'S, 147°50'E, 403–418 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3645), MNHN IU- 2011-3886 (det. E. Macpherson). Off Woodlark I.: 09°09'S, 152°15'E, 503–546 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3739), MNHN IU- 2011-2857 * (supermale, 34 mm; 12 specimens); 09°14'S, 152°18'E, 694–766 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3741), MNHN IU- 2011- 2361 * (male, 25 mm); 09°12'S, 152°16'E, 556–645 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3740), MNHN IU- 2011-2446 (3 males, 3 females).

c d e AUSTRALIA. Qld, ENE of Raine I.: 11°35'S, 144°04' E, 420 m, AM P.89808 (5 males, 18–25 mm; 5 females, 11–27 mm).

CORAL SEA. Chesterfield Plateau: 19°48'S, 158°44'E, 685–700 m (MUSORSTOM 5 stn CP363), MNHN IU- 2010-6108 (supermale, 33 mm), MNHN IU- 2010-6109 (male, 26 mm). Lansdowne Fairway: 20°48'S, 160°57'E, 500 m (CORAIL 2 stn CP17), MNHN IU- 2010-6110* (ovigerous female, 29 mm).

NEW CALEDONIA. S of Ile des Pins: 23°06'S, 167°47'E, 540–600 m (BIOCAL stn CP52), MNHN IU- 2010- 6106 (supermale, 30 mm), MNHN IU- 2010-6107* (ovigerous female, 24 mm).

VANUATU. NE of Tanna: 19°20'S, 169°26'E, 480–544 m (MUSORSTOM 8 stn CP984), MNHN IU- 2010- 6117 (ovigerous female, 19 mm). SE of Efate: 17°54'S, 168°40'E, 624–668 m (MUSORSTOM 8 stn CP1028), MNHN IU- 2010-6119 (male, 32 mm), MNHN IU- 2010-6142 (male, 27 mm; ovigerous female, 23 mm); 17°53'S, 168°39'E, 550–571 m (MUSORSTOM 8 stn CP1027), MNHN IU- 2010-8058 (2 males, 26 mm; 4 females, 18–25 mm); 17°55'S, 168°41'E, 650–691 m (MUSORSTOM 8 stn CC1033), MNHN IU- 2010-6143 (ovigerous female, 22 mm). N of Cape Quiros, Espiritu Santo: 14°52'S, 167°03'E, 647m (MUSORSTOM 8 stn CP1114), MNHN IU- 2010-6120 (1 individual).

FIJI. Bligh Water: 17°03'S, 177°47'E, 635–670 m (MUSORSTOM 10 stn CC1337), MNHN IU- 2010-6115* (supermale, 35 mm), MNHN IU- 2010-6116 (male, 30 mm), MNHN IU- 2010-6145 (male, 26 mm); 16°53'S, 177°44'E, 500–614 m (MUSORSTOM 10 stn CP1341, MNHN IU- 2010-6113* (male, 16 mm), MNHN IU- 2010- 6114* (ovigerous female, 29 mm), MNHN IU- 2010-6146 (2 males, 13 mm; female 13 mm).

Diagnosis. Telson anterolateral margin with smooth proximal concavity over anterior 70% that ends at sharp step, remainder truncate-convex, margin oblique anterior to transverse suture, with crenellate margin. Pereopods 2–4 with dactyli 5.9–6.2 times as long as greatest basal width, robust setae on dactylus of pereopod 2 number 7–26 (median 12), of pereopod 3, 1–10 (median 3), and of pereopod 4, 0–6 (median 2). Pereopod 4 merus without spines proximally on upper face. (revised from Poore & Andreakis 2012)

Colour. Generally orange; red band at end of merus of cheliped, deeper orange bands and ends of carpus and across propodus-fingers articulation; red dots at ends of meri and carpi of pereopods 2–4; deeper orange patch on extensor margin of propodus of pereopod 2, larger on pereopods 3 and 4 and extending on to dactyli (except for white tip). Based on MNHN IU-2011-891 from Fiji.

Distribution. PNG, Qld ( Australia), New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, 02°S to 23°S, 300–1000 m (median 570 m) depth.

Remarks. Agononida norfocerta is recovered within clade B, basal to the group comprising A. auscerta , A. incerta and A. rubrizonata ( Fig. 1 ). The species is recognised by the tuberculate, slightly upturned, thin, almost liplike appearance of the medial part of the anterolateral margin of the telson with an obvious hiatus (at about 70% of the margin length) between it and the more depressed, tuberculate and thicker posterior lobe ( Fig. 7). The upturned section is more obvious in adult males than in females and juveniles. This is illustrated for a female from the type series and a male, supermale and female from Fiji.

The distribution of A. norfocerta , originally known only from the Norfolk Ridge, is extended north-westwards to PNG, west to the Queensland coast of Australia, and east to Fiji. Identifications from these new localities were confirmed by positions of some individuals in the molecular tree. Pereopodal dactyli in material from Fiji appear narrower (7 times as long as wide vs 6 times) than in the type material. The numbers of robust setae on the dactyli of pereopods 2–4 vary considerably between individuals and even between the right and left sides of a single individual. Regional median values of counts for the 30 additional specimens from Vanuatu, Fiji and Queensland are virtually the same as those from the type locality, 14, 3 and 1 respectively. Some individuals from PNG are exceptional in having more than 20 robust setae on the pereopod 2 dactylus; others have as few as seven. The ranges and median values in the diagnosis above have been adjusted.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution (based on 189 museum records) of ten species of the Agononida incerta complex in the Indo-West Pacific, largely in the Southern Hemisphere, separated into two clades, A and B; overlaid by a model-constrained maximumlikelihood phylogeny inferred from 6 COI and 5 16 S new sequences merged with previously produced molecular data. Bootstrap support values for species are given. Species of clade A – A. africerta, yellow circle (12); A. indocerta, red triangle (18); A. polycerta, blue square (4); A. vanuacerta, white triangle (2). Species of clade B – A. auscerta, black asterisk (11); A. incerta, blue square (20); A. madagascerta, black triangle (3); A. rubrizonata, red triangle (34); A. tasmancerta, white square (8). Numbers of records are in parentheses. A. tasmancerta does not appear in the phylogeny. Agononida incerta is likely to occur further north than these records indicate, as far as central Japan.