Ascorhynchus sp. 4

Sabroux, Romain, Hassanin, Alexandre & Corbari, Laure, 2022, Sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) collected during the Madibenthos Expedition from Martinique shallow waters, European Journal of Taxonomy 851 (1), pp. 1-141 : 41-42

Ascorhynchus sp. 4

Fig. 8

Ascorhynchus sp. 4 – Sabroux et al. 2019b: tab. 1, fig. 3.

Material examined

MARTINIQUE • 1 juv.; Macouba ; 14°55ʹ N, 61°08.9ʹ W; depth 78–80 m; 24 Sep. 2016; st. AD263; MNHN-IU-2016-1039/ MK411031 .

Remarks

The only available specimen is a juvenile that is rather poorly preserved. The ovigers are broken. In these circumstances, it seems unwise to name this species, although it is probably new to science.

The species differs from most other species of Ascorhynchus by the following character combination: ocular tubercle present, with pigmented eyes positioned below the ocular tubercle tip; slender dorsomedian tubercles on trunk segments; lateral processes less than twice as long as wide, separated by about their own diameter, carrying median tubercle; ocular tubercle near anterior cephalon boarder; chelifore scapes monosegmented. These characters are shared with A. okai Nakamura & Child, 1983 from Japan, A. cactoides Stock, 1954 from the Indo-Pacific ( Stock 1991b) and A. pudicus Stock, 1970 from the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean ( Munilla and Soler-Membrives 2014). Ascorhynchus sp. 4 differs from A. okai by the longer distance between the insertions of the ovigers and palps ( Nakamura & Child 1983), from A. cactoides in having the abdomen straight and from A. pudicus in having no dorsomedian tubercle on the 4 th trunk segment.

The specimen was collected in Northern Martinique.

Depth range

78– 80 m.

Figures

Fig. 8. Ascorhynchus sp. 5, juvenile, MNHN-IU-2016-1039. A. Body, dorsal view. B. Body, lateral view (same scale as A). C. Palp. D. First leg. E. Tarsus and propodus of first leg. F. Chela.