Endeis flaccida Calman, 1923

Arango, Claudia P., 2003, Sea spiders (Pycnogonida, Arthropoda) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: new species, new records and ecological annotations, Journal of Natural History 37 (22), pp. 2723-2772 : 2759-2761

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222930210158771
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5460426
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F10B8791-FFB2-FF95-2647-16ECF0387963
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Endeis flaccida Calman, 1923
status

Treatment

Endeis flaccida Calman, 1923 View in CoL

(figure 14)

Endeis flaccida Calman, 1923: 295 View in CoL , figure 17; Child, 1979: 66 (refs); Stock, 1970: 3; 1975b: 1085, figures 58a, b; 1986: 440; 1991: 225.

Material examined. Cape Ferguson, Turtle Bay , intertidal in C. prolifera , 12 July 1999, one X. Cairns Marina, fouling panels with bryozoans and hydroids, 2 m, November 1999, 16 W, 21 X, nine juveniles ; February 2001, 30 X, 29 W 17 with eggs, three juveniles (coll. O. Floerl).

Description. Trunk 1.04 mm long and 0.4 mm wide, segmented, smooth, crurigers separated by their diameter. Ocular tubercle broad, of conical shape, taller than abdomen, with yellowish pigmented eyes; proboscis short, slightly tapering distally, crown of short setae around oral surface. Ovigers seven-segmented, distal segments with recurved spinules. Femur and second tibia subequal, caeca visible through cuticle distributed in pockets along the legs, first coxa with a distal pointed tubercle, three pointed spines distally in the female femur, one dorsal spine on first tibia and short setae on second tibia. Propodus with strong heel, three spines and six sole spines, main claw half the length of the propodus and auxiliaries threequarters the length of the main claw.

Distribution. Endeis flaccida has not been recorded from Australia before; however, there are unreported records of sea spiders collected in Queensland and New South Wales identified as E. flaccida (sic. E. flaecida ) deposited at the AM. This is a widely distributed species known from the Indo-west Pacific region, the coasts of South Florida and both sides of the Isthmus of Panama.

Remarks. The species is recognizable by the combination of visible conglomerate guts especially in the tibiae and femora and the absence of prominences or long spines. Depth and habitat is similar to where the species has been found before. It seems to be seasonally abundant, most of the males being ovigerous between November and March at this specific site, where it has been found amongst hydroids on fouling panels.