Anoplodactylus bahamensis Child, 1977

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 : 77-78

Anoplodactylus bahamensis Child, 1977

Fig. 20

Anoplodactylus bahamensis Child, 1977b: 587–589 , fig. 2.

Anoplodactylus bahamensis – Child 1982a: 368; 2004: 154. — Stock 1986: 403. — Müller & Krapp 2009: 11–13 , 85 (key), 86–88, 132, 137 (list), tab. 1, fig. 46.

nec Anoplodactylus micros Bourdillon, 1955 – Sabroux et al. 2019b (pro parte): tab. 1, figs 3, 5.

Type material

Holotype: USNM 154804 (not examined). Type locality: Tongue of the Ocean, off Andros Island, Bahamas.

Material examined

MARTINIQUE • 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀, 2 juvs; Anse Couleuvre; 14°50.4ʹ N, 61°13.4ʹ W; depth 7 m; 1 Oct. 2016; st. AB463; MNHN-IU-2016-1123 • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; MNHN-IU-2016-1390 • 1 ♀; Presqu’Île de la Caravelle ; 14°44.1ʹ N, 60°50.8ʹ W; depth 29 m; 18 Sep. 2016; st. AS 253; MNHN- IU-2016-1264/ MK411090 • 1 ♂ ov.; Anse Dufour; 14°31.6ʹ N, 61°05.4ʹ W; depth 10–20 m; 7 Sep. 2016; st. AD206; MNHN-IU-2016-1271 • 1 ♂; Baie de Fort-de-France ; 14°34.5ʹ N, 61°05ʹ W; depth 11–15 m; 6 Oct. 2016; st. AR468; MNHN-IU-2016-1324 • 1 ♂ ov.; Le Prêcheur; 14°49.1ʹ N, 61°13.8ʹ W; depth 20–25 m; 8 Oct. 2016; st. AS 576; MNHN-IU-2016-1389 • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; MNHN-IU-2016-1463 .

Remarks

Anoplodactylus bahamensis is discriminated from Anoplodactylus micros by the conspicuously larger size of the specimens and the wider opening of the cement gland pores. We observed setae on the ventral side of the proboscis in both species (but not in all specimens), unlike observations in Müller & Krapp (2009). Only one specimen was barcoded, a female. While it is not possible to confirm its identification using the cement glands, the specimen is similar to the male specimens regarding all available characters, including the propodal sole lamina and the dorsomedian tubercles on the lateral processes.

This is the first record of this species in Martinique. The species was sampled at five different stations, four of them on the Caribbean coast, one (the barcoded female, MNHN-IU-2016-1264) on the Caribbean coast. Müller & Krapp (2009) mentioned that the species prefers sublittoral areas, where it is peculiarly abundant in sea-grass meadows.

Distribution

Caribbean ( Belize, Nicaragua, Colombia) and Bahamas.

Depth range

0.5–12 m, extended to 20 m.

Figures

Fig. 20. Cement gland pores of Anoplodactylus micros Bourdillon, 1955 and A. bahamensis Child, 1997.