Munidopsis aries (A. Milne­Edwards, 1880)

Macpherson, Enrique & Segonzac, Michel, 2005, Species of the genus Munidopsis (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae) from the deep Atlantic Ocean, including cold-seep and hydrothermal vent areas, Zootaxa 1095 (1), pp. 1-60 : 15-17

Munidopsis aries (A. Milne­Edwards, 1880) ( Fig. 3 )

Orophorhynchus aries A. Milne­Edwards, 1880: 58 .—A. Milne­Edwards & Bouvier, 1894: 209; 1897: 111, pl. 9: figs 7–11, pl. 10: figs 1–2.

Munidopsis aries .— Benedict, 1902: 316 (key).— Doflein & Balss, 1913: 177 (list).— Chace, 1942: 74 (key).— Pequegnat & Pequegnat, 1970: 139 (key); 1971: 5 (key), fig. 12B.— Wenner, 1982: 367.— Gore, 1983: 203, fig. 2 (see complete list of references).

Munidopsis sundi Sivertsen & Holthuis, 1956: 4 , pl. 4: figs 2, 4.— Pequegnat & Pequegnat, 1971: 22, fig. 13.— Wenner, 1982: 371.—Udekem d’Acoz, 1999: 169.

Material examined. Off South Africa, WALVIS, Stn CP 14, 32º28.9’S, 32º28.6’E, 3675 m, 13.01.1979: 1 female (broken). Iberian Abyssal Plain, ABYPLAINE, Stn CP 15, 39º59.2’N, 15º00.21’W, 5320 m, 09.06.1981: 1 male 30.5 mm. Off Mauritania, EUMELI 2, Stn MVN 02 (baited trap), 18°33.98’N, 20°59.16’W, 3130 m, 27.01.1991: 1 female 91.6 mm. NE Atlantic. EUMELI 4, Stn CPH15, 18º53’N, 21º08’W, 3124 m, 01.06.1992: 1 male 74.9 mm. Off Angola, BIOZAIRE 3, Stn CP 15, 05°51'S, 09°43.02'E, 3166 m, 28.12.2003: 2 males 18.5–29.2 mm, 1 female 19.0 mm. NW Atlantic, MAR­ECO, Stn 65 (Lstn 382), 53º20’N, 33º36’W, 3015 m, 24.07.2004: 2 males 34.8–54.7 mm, 1 female 63.2 mm .

Remarks. This species was previously known from relatively few specimens: the holotype, a juvenile male collected off Bequia (Caribbean Sea) at 2912 m (A. Milne­ Edwards 1880), 6 males, 3 females, and one large ovigerous female collected in the Azores Islands ( Sivertsen & Holthuis 1956), Middle Atlantic Bight ( Wenner 1982), Colombia and Venezuela Basins and Gulf of Mexico ( Pequegnat & Pequegnat 1971, Gore 1983), between 2615 and 4095 m. The species was considered to be a senior synonym of M. sundi by Gore (1983), which was described by Sivertsen & Holthuis (1956) from a large female collected south of Azores Islands. The species is the largest known galatheid.

Munidopsis aries belongs to the group of species that have the carapace covered with small granules, without gastric spines, the branchial margin of the carapace posteriorly convergent, the anterolateral corner of the carapace angular, the rostrum with distinctly convex lateral margins, ocular peduncles movable, the main eye­spine on the mesial end of eyestalk well produced, without lateral eye­spine, the cornea relatively small, the first walking leg overreaching end of cheliped, the fixed finger of cheliped without denticulate carina on the distolateral margin, and epipods absent on pereiopods.

Distribution and habitat. The present material extends the distribution range of this species from the North Atlantic to the South Atlantic, with a depth range of 2615–5320 m.

The WALVIS specimen was collected among actiniarians, gorgonians, polychaetes, gastropods, and macrurid and zoarcid fishes. The ABYPLAINE specimen was found among a low diversity fauna of actiniarians, shrimps, bivalves, and tunicates ( Monniot & Segonzac 1985). The BIOZAIRE specimens were obtained in the northern edge of the Zaïre River channel, 6 km south of Regab cold­seep area. During the diving cruise FARANAUT, exploring the axial valley of the Mid­Atlantic Ridge , on both sides of the Fifteen Twenty Fracture Zone, two large specimens were filmed in situ from the sumersible Nautile: dive FR13, 31.03.1992, 15°28.50'N, 46°34.10'W, 3824 m, on muddy bottoms, and dive FR20, 07.04.1992, 15°32.80'N, 46°41.20'W, 3226 m, on a basalt outcrop ( Table 2) .

The female from EUMELI 2, collected off Mauritania, is the largest known specimen of the species. The species was collected together with M. antonii and M. hirtella (this paper), and with M. bermudezi and M. crassa in the western Atlantic ( Gore 1983).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Munidopsis aries (A. Milne­Edwards, 1880). Female (91.6 mm), off Mauritania, EUMELI 2, Stn MVN02. Carapace, abdomen and pereiopods, dorsal view.