Cardisoma carnifex, (HERBST, 1796)

Flores, Augusto A. V., Paula, José & Dray, Tiago, 2003, First zoeal stages of grapsoid crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura) from the East African coast, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 137 (3), pp. 355-383 : 378

CARDISOMA CARNIFEX (HERBST, 1796) (FIGS 17,18)

Cardisoma carnifex ; Kannupandi et al., 1980: 274, figs 1–9.

Dimensions: TT 0.90 mm ± 0.04, CW 0.48 mm ±

0.03, CL 0.50 mm ± 0.04.

Carapace ( Fig. 17a ): carapace globose; dorsal spine posteriorly directed; rostral spine straight, anteriorly directed, slightly shorter than dorsal spine; small lateral spines present; a pair of dorsal setae present; eyes sessile.

Antennule ( Fig. 17b ): uniramous, endopod absent; exopod unsegmented bearing 3 terminal aesthetascs of unequal size and 1 terminal seta.

Antenna ( Figs 17a,c ): similar in size to rostral spine; protopodal process with 2 rows of spines, larger in the inner margin; endopod absent; exopod developed but shorter than protopodal process, with 2 very reduced, 1 small and 1 stout, long-terminal setae.

Maxillule ( Fig. 18f ): epipod seta absent; coxal endite with 6 (5 sparsely plumose, 1 plumodenticulate) setae; basial endite with 5 (1 subterminal, plumodenticulate; 2 stout, terminal sparsely plumose; 2 stout, terminal plumodenticulate) setae, 2 acute teeth also present; endopod 2-segmented, proximal segment with 1 (simple) seta, distal segment with 5 (1 subterminal, simple + 4 distal, plumodenticulate) setae; exopod seta absent.

Maxilla ( Fig. 18g ): coxal endite bilobed bearing 5 (1 simple, 2 sparsely plumose, 2 plumodenticulate) setae + 4 (3 sparsely plumose, 1 simple) setae, basial endite bilobed with 5 (2 sparsely plumose, 3 plumodenticulate) + 5 (plumodenticulate) setae; endopod bilobed with 2 (unequal, sparsely plumose) + 3 (unequal, sparsely plumose) setae; scaphognathite (exopod) margin with 4 plumose setae and 1 long distal stout process.

First maxilliped ( Fig. 18h ): basis with 10 setae (arranged 2 sparsely plumose; 2 simple; 1 sparsely plumose, 2 simple; 1 sparsely plumose, 2 simple); endopod 5-segmented with 2 (simple), 2 (sparsely plumose), 1 (sparsely plumose), 2 (1 simple, 1 sparsely plumose), 5 (1 subterminal simple + 1 terminal simple, 3 terminal plumodenticulate) setae; exopod unsegmented with 4 terminal plumose natatory setae.

Second maxilliped ( Fig. 18i ): basis with 4 setae (arranged 1 sparsely plumose, 1 sparsely plumose, 1 sparsely plumose, 1 sparsely plumose); endopod 3-segmented with 1 (simple), 1 (plumodenticulate), 6 (1 subterminal denticulate + 3 subterminal simple, 2 terminal sparsely plumose) setae; exopod unsegmented with 4 terminal plumose natatory setae.

Third maxilliped: absent

Pereiopods: absent

Abdomen ( Figs 17a,d ): 5 somites; somite 2 with 1 pair of dorsolateral processes directed anteriorly, somite 3 with 1 pair of dorsolateral processes directed ventrally; postero-lateral processes from round to acute in somites 1–5, indented in somites 3–5; a pair of median postero-dorsal setae in somites 2–5.

Telson ( Figs 17d,e ): a pair of minute lateral spines present; small setae distributed in scattered patches, small spines in fork margins, except for the tips; forks large, divergent; posterior margin with 3 pairs of stout setae, the median one with proximal larger spinulae on external margin.

Figures

Figure 17. Cardisoma carnifex (Herbst). First zoeal stage: (a) lateral view; (b) antennule; (c) antenna; (d) dorsal view of abdomen; (e) detail of telson. Scale bars as in Figure 1.

Figure 18. Cardisoma carnifex (Herbst). First zoeal stage: (f) maxillule; (g) maxilla; (h) first maxilliped; (i) second maxilliped. Scale bars as in Figure 2.