Capitetragonia alphei ( Richardson, 1900 )

Romero Rodríguez, Jesús & Álvarez, Fernando, 2021, New hosts and distribution records for bopyrid isopods parasitising alpheid shrimps (Decapoda, Alpheidae) in the SW Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Caribbean, Journal of Natural History 54 (35 - 36), pp. 2219-2248 : 2230-2232

Capitetragonia alphei ( Richardson, 1900)

Figures 1 (c), 2(c), 5; Tables 1, 2

[ Bopyrus sp. ]. – Müller, 1871: 68 [Florinópolis, Brazil, parasitising, Alpheus sp. ].

Bopyrella (?) alphei . – Giard and Bonnier, 1890: 369 [nomen nodum]. – Bonnier 1900: 221, 352, 381[nomen nodum]. – Giard, 1904: 592. – Grünberg and Robert, 1905: 354. – Nierstrasz and Brender à Brandis, 1923: 97.

Bopyrus ? alphei . – Giard and Bonnier, 1890: 369 [nomen nudum]. – Stebbing, 1893: 416.

Bopyrus alphei Richardson, 1900: 158 , 159, figs. 3, 4 [type locality: Rio Parahyba do Norte, Brazil, parasitising Alpheus heterochaelis ]. – Brown, 1900: 37 . – Richardson, 1901: 578 [Beaufort, North Carolina , parasitising A. heterochaelis ] . – Von Ihering, 1902: 701. – Richardson, 1904b: 857. – Bourdon, 1968: 408. – Koening, 1971: 51, 52. – An et al. 2015: 32.

Gyge sp. – Wilson, 1900: 353 [Beaufort, North Carolina, parasitising A. heterochaelis ].

Probopyrus alphei . – Richardson, 1904a: 67, 68, figs. 44, 45.– Richardson, 1904b: 856-857.– Richardson, 1905: 553, 559–560, figs. 612, 613. – Hay and Shore, 1918: 386 [Beaufort, North Carolina, parasitising A. heterochaelis ]. – Chopra, 1923: 508. – Nierstrasz and Brender à Brandis, 1925: 7. – Carvalho 1942: 130, 131. – Pearse, 1947a: 326 [Beaufort, North Carolina, parasitising A. heterochaelis (cited as Crangon heterochaelis )]. – Pearse, 1947b: 454 [Beaufort, North Carolina, parasitising A. heterochaelis (cited as C. heterochaelis )]. – Danforth, 1963: 10. – Menzies and Glynn, 1968: 13. – Şadoğlu 1969: 197. – Schultz 1969: 329, fig. 528. – Danforth, 1970: 11, 48, 92, 152, fig. 27 e-f. – Rouse 1970: 135 [Southwest Florida, U.S.A., parasitising Alpheus sp. ]. – Lemos de Castro and Brasil-Lima, 1974: 210. – Markham 1974: 208–212, 316, 320–321. – Kelley 1978: 169 [coast of South Carolina, U.S.A., parasitising A. heterochaelis ]. – Lawler, 1978: 309.

Capitetragonia asperotibialis . – Pearse, 1953: 233, 234, figs. 122–130 [Alligator harbour, Florida, parasitising Alpheus normanni (cited as C. normanni )]. – Danforth, 1963: 7. – Markham, 1985: 45. – An et al. 2015: 46.

Bopyrella alphei . – Chopra, 1923: 467, 506, 508. – Danforth, 1963: 6. – Lemos de Castro, 1965: 283, 287, figs. 14–23 [Barro do Arapiranga, Carutapera, Maranhao, and Ilha de Sào Sebastião, São Paulo, Brazil, parasitising Alpheus sp. ]. – Coelho and Koening, 1972: 256. – Bourdon, 1980: 187, 201–204, 207 table 2, 224 table 4, 267 table 6, fig. 7.

‘Branchial bopyrid’. – Chace, 1972: 73 [ Antigua Island, parasitising A. viridari ].

Probopyria alphei . – Markham, 1985: 42–45, figs. 15, 16 [Florida, U.S.A., parasitising A. normanni , A. viridari and Alpheus sp. ]. – Markham, 1988: 39, 57 table 1 [near Cali, Colombia, parasitising Alpheus sp. ]. – Kensley and Schotte, 1989: 112 table 2. – Kensley et al. 1995: 137 table 1. – Brasil-Lima, 1998: 639. – Camp et al. 1998: 133. – Schotte et al. 2009: 981.

Capitetragonia alphei . – An et al., 2015: 14, 32, 46. – Briggs et al. 2017: 653 , 659, 660, 653 table 1 [ Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay, Florida, U.S.A., parasitising Alpheus sp. ].

Material examined

One ovigerous female, one male ( CNCR 34973 ) parasitising one ovigerous female of Alpheus estuariensis Christoffersen, 1984 ( CNCR 35103 ), J . S . Martínez det . host; Isla del Ídolo , Laguna de Tamiahua, Veracruz, Mexico (21º21 ʹ 52.6”N, 97º27 ʹ 46.8”W); J . L . Bortolini coll.; 15 November 2018.

Distribution

North Carolina to western Florida, U.S.A.; Rio Parahyba do Norte, Brazil ( Markham 1985, 1988).

Remarks

The genus Probopyria was erected by Markham (1985) for the single species Bopyrus alphei Richardson, 1900 . An et al. (2015) examined the type species of Capitetragonia and Probopyria and concluded that are synonyms each other thus defined the first one as the correct name for the genus and the new combination Capitetragonia alphei as the type species.

The morphological characters of the female examined agree with those proposed for C. alphei by Richardson (1900) and Markham (1985), namely the rounded lateral projections on the head, resembling a pair of ‘horns’ ( Figure 1 (c)). Richardson (1900) and Markham (1985) did not describe the antennules and antennae, but those of the female examined are small and composed of two articles each. The basal segment of the antennule is wider than distal one, whilst both segments of the antenna are similar in wide but the distal segment is longer than basal one ( Figure 5 (a)). The shape of the maxillipeds resemble those described and illustrated by Markham (1985, Figure 15(b)), except that on the anteromedial border have a conspicuous and setose palp, and the external side of the anterior segment has a rugged appearance ( Figure 5 (b)). In contrast with Markham’s (1985) observation, all the pereomeres of both sides of body have coxal plates, thought those on the shorter side were very reduced ( Figure 1 (c)). The first oostegites are similar to those described by Markham (1985) but with tiny setae on the posterior margin, similar to those observed in oostegites 2–4; while oostegite 5 has a row of larger and conspicuous setae along this margin. The pleomeres are well defined, wider in the longer side of body and separate by broad lateral incisions ( Figure 1 (c)). The five pairs of pleopods are biramous, the endopods are wider and more rounded than exopods but both with sinuous margins ( Figure 5 (c)).

The features of the male examined matched most of those mentioned by Richardson (1900) and Markham (1985) for C. alphei , but additional characteristics were observed, e.g. the eyes on the posterolateral border of the head ( Figure 2 (c)) and scales on the distoventral margin of the merus and carpus of all the seven pereopods ( Figure 5 (d)).

Capitetragonia alphei settled in the left branchial chamber of an ovigerous female shrimp of 12.14 mm CL, carrying 182 embryos on stage II, the mean length and width of these embryos were 0.67 ± 0.02 and 0.58 ± 0.02 mm, respectively, and have an estimated mean volume of 0.12 ± 0.01 mm 3. The size of this ovigerous female host is similar to the largest ovigerous female reported by Costa-Souza et al. (2018) in Brazil (12.2 mm LC), also the fecundity and embryo volume are comparable with those reported by the same authors for embryos of A. estuariensis on stage II, 153.2 ± 75.52 embryos and 0.14 ± 0.05 mm 3, respectively. The measurements of both females and males of C. alphei are shown in Table 1 and the fecundity and average size and volume of the embryos of this parasite are indicated in Table 2.

Although the distribution of C. alphei comprises a vast portion of the West Atlantic coast ( Markham 1988) this is the first record of its occurrence in Mexican waters. This bopyrid had been reported parasitising three different species of alpheids: Alpheus heterochaelis Say 1818 , A. normanni Kingsley, 1878 and A. viridari ( Armstrong, 1949) and two other not identifiable alpheid hosts ( Markham 1988); thus, A. estuariensis is recorded for the first time as host of C. alphei or any other bopyrid. The occurrence of A. estuariensis along the Mexican coasts of the Gulf of Mexico was inferred by Álvarez et al. (1999) and Hernández et al. (2005) based on its distribution which ranges from the eastern coast of Florida to the southern coast of Brazil ( Costa-Souza et al. 2018).

Figures

Figure 1. Bopyrid females parasitising Alpheus and Synalpheus shrimps at the SW Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Caribbean. a) Bopyrella harmopleon Bowman, 1956, YUC-CC-255-11-006553; b) Bopyrione synalphei Bourdon and Markham, 1980, YUC-CC-255-11-006555; c) Capitetragonia alphei (Richardson, 1900), CNCR 34973; d) Parabopyrella lata (Nierstraz and Brender à Brandis, 1929), CNCR 34974; e) Parabopyrella mortenseni (Nierstraz and Brender à Brandis, 1929), CNCR 34975; f) Eophrixus subcaudalis (Hay, 1917), CNCR 5254. Scale bar = 1.0 mm.

Figure 2. Bopyrid males parasitising Alpheus and Synalpheus shrimps at the SW Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Caribbean. a) Bopyrella harmopleon Bowman, 1956, YUC-CC-255-11-006553; b) Bopyrione synalphei Bourdon and Markham, 1980, YUC-CC-255-11-006556; c) Capitetragonia alphei (Richardson, 1900), CNCR 34973; d) Parabopyrella mortenseni (Nierstraz and Brender à Brandis, 1929), CNCR 34975; e) Eophrixus subcaudalis (Hay, 1917), CNCR 5254. Scale bar = 0.5 mm in a-b; 1.0 mm in c-e.

Figure 5. Capitetragonia alphei (Richardson, 1900), CNCR 34973. a) antenna and antennule of female; b) maxilliped; c) female pleon, ventral view; d) fifth pereopod of male. Scale bar = 0.5 mm in a; 1.0 mm in b-c; 0.1 mm in d.