Globosolembos excavatus (Myers)

Appadoo, C & Myers, A. A., 2004, Corophiidea (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Mauritius, Records of the Australian Museum 56 (3), pp. 331-362 : 353

Globosolembos excavatus (Myers)

Lembos excavatus Myers, 1975b: 32 , figs. 76–82.— Ledoyer, 1982: 218, figs. 104–105 (in part).

Lembos processifer .— Ledoyer, 1984: 35 (in part), fig. 16 (“forme 2”) (not L. processifer Pirlot, 1938: 330 , figs. 147–149).

Lembos (Globosolembos) excavatus Myers, 1985b: 363 , fig. 234.

Globosolembos excavatus .— Myers, 1986: 285, figs. 11–12.— Myers, 1988b: 329.

Material examined. 13 from coral rubble, AM P60853, Enteromorpha flexuosa and Pocockiella variegata , Flic-en-Flac (20°16.5'S 57°21.7'E), 9 November 1998; 13, 7♀♀, 12 juv., AM P60854, from mixture of Sargassum sp. , Amphiroa sp. , Pocockiella variegata and Cymodocea sp. , Bain Boeuf (19°59'S 57°36'E), 16 June 1999. 13, AM P60855, from mixture of Sargassum sp. , Ulva lactuca , Acanthophora spicifera, Souillac (20°31'S 57°30.7'E), 14 October 1999.

Diagnosis. Sternal processes on sternal plates 2–4. Gnathopod 1 carpus triangular, as long as broad; propodus globular, anterior margin with few slender setae, 1.7× as long as broad, posterior margin with a deep sinuous excavation; palm reduced, crenulate; dactylus 1.6× length of palm. Gnathopod 2 carpus slender, longer than propodus; propodus palm oblique; anterior margins of carpus and propodus densely setose.

Female gnathopod 1carpus as long as broad; propodus globular, 1.4 as long as broad, anterior margin poorly setiferous; palm oblique, weakly sinuous.

Type locality. Watamu Bay , Kenya .

Distribution. East Africa, Madagascar, northeastern Australia, New Caledonia, Tonga.

Habitat. Globosolembos excavatus is common among the brown algae especially Padina sp. and Pocockiella variegata together with coral rubble substrata. It was collected at depths less than 2 m from several sites around the island and appears to have a wider distribution than B. teleporus or B. quadrimanus .

Remarks. This is the first record of Globosolembos excavatus from Mauritius.

The present material agrees with the description given by Myers (1975b: 32, fig. 76–82). The material examined has mottled brown pigmentation on the pleon and coxae 1 to 4, and a few patches of pigment on pleon 6 and 7. Globosolembos excavatus females can be distinguished from those of B. quadrimanus females by the more globose nature of the female gnathopod 1. In specimens where pigmentation is preserved, a quick character that can be used to distinguish these two females, is the chromatophores on the head, which are absent in G. excavatus . The two species G. excavatus and G. indicus in the current material could be distinguished using the same features mentioned by Ledoyer p.284 (1982). These include the poorly setiferous anterior margins of the propodus of the gnathopod 1 in males and females, the presence of sternal processes on sternal plates 2–4, and the more reduced carpus in the males gnathopod 1 in G. excavatus compared to G. indicus .