Anoplodactylus californicus Hall, 1912

Müller, Hans-Georg & Krapp, Franz, 2009, The pycnogonid fauna (Pycnogonida, Arthropoda) of the Tayrona National Park and adjoining areas on the Caribbean coast of Colombia 2319, Zootaxa 2319 (1), pp. 1-138 : 90-93

Anoplodactylus californicus Hall, 1912

Fig. 48

Anoplodactylus californicus Hall, 1912: 91 . Child 1987: 544; (synonymy). Müller 1990: 284.

Material: 1.— 3 males (2 ov.), 2 females (gravid), 4 juv. ( ZMA 3364 ), brown and red algae on rock, mesolittoral, 1.VIII.1985 . 1 male, 1 fem. (gravid), 12 juv. ( MNHN), brown algae on rock, lower mesolittoral, 10.IX.1985 . 20 males (13 ov.), 13 fem. (12 gravid), 50 juv. ( SMF 1260 ), brown algae on rock, lower mesolittoral, 9.X.1985 . 6 males (2 gravid), 1 fem. (gravid), 20 juv. ( SMF 1261 ), from Sargassum on rock, mesolittoral, 18.XI.1985 . 1 juv. ( SMF 1262 ), from Sargassum on rock, mesolittoral, 30.XII.1985 . 5 juv. ( SMF 1263 ), corallinaceans on rock, mesolittoral, 17.II.1986 .

2.— 1 juv. ( SMF 1264 ), corallinaceans on rock, mesolittoral, 9.X.1985 .

8.— 1 male, 2 juv. ( ZSM), jetty piles in shade, on Cnidoscyphus , 0–1 m, 17.X.1985 .

16.— 4 juv. ( SMF 1265 ), from different stands of algae, mesolittoral, 22.V.1985 . 1 juv. ( SMF 1266 ), from Sargassum on rocks, mesolittoral, 8.VII.1985 . 1 male (ov.), 1 fem. (gravid), 2 juv. ( SMF 1267 ), red and brown algae on rock, mesolittoral, 15.VII.1985 . 1 fem. ( SMF 1268 ), from brown algae, mesolittoral, 12.II.1986 .

17.— 1 juv. ( SMF 1269 ), on Cnidoscyphus , among large rocks, lower mesolittoral, 7.VI.1985 . 2 juv. ( SMF 1270 ), on Cnidoscyphus , among large rocks, lower mesolittoral, 9.VII.1985 . 3 juv. ( SMF 1271 ), on Cnidoscyphus , among large rocks, lower mesolittoral, 2.X.1985 . 10 juv. ( SMF 1272 ), on Cnidoscyphus , among large rocks, lower mesolittoral, 8.XI.1985 . 1 fem., 6 juv. ( SMF 1273 ), algal growth on large boulders, mesolittoral to about. 0.5 m, 7.I.1986 .

20.— 2 males (1 ov.), 2 fem. (gravid), 1 juv. ( SMF 1274 ), on Sargassum cymosum , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral- 0.5 m, 7.VI.1985 . 1 male (ov.) ( USNM), on Sargassum cymosum , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral- 0.5 m, 9.IX.1985 . 2 juv. ( SMF 1275 ), on Sargassum cymosum , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral- 0.5 m, 8.XI.1985 . 1 male, 3 juv. ( SMF 1276 ), on Sargassum cymosum , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral- 0.5 m, 7.XII.1985 . 5 males (2 ov.), 4 fem. (3 gravid), 12 juv. ( SMF 1277 ), on Sargassum cymosum , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral- 0.5 m, 5.I.1986 . 6 males (5 ov.), 1 fem., 8 juv. ( SMF 1278 ), same locality, 12.II.1986 . 5 males (3 ov.), 3 fem. (gravid), 3 juv. ( ZFMK), on Sargassum cymosum , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral- 0.5 m, 3.III.1986 . 4 males (2 ov.), 3 fem., 5 juv. ( SMF 1279 ), on Sargassum cymosum , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral- 0.5 m, 3.IV.1986 .

21.— 2 juv. ( SMF 1280 ), on Digenia simplex , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral, 27.VI.1985 . 3 juv. ( SMF 1281 ), on Digenia simplex , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral, 5.VII.1985 . 2 males, 1 fem. (gravid), 1 juv. ( INVEMAR), on Digenia simplex , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral, 9.IX.1985 . 3 juv. ( SMF 1282 ), on Digenia simplex , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral, 8.XI.1985 . 10 juv. ( SMF 1283 ), on Digenia simplex , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral, 12.II.1986 . 1 male (ov.), 1 juv. ( ZSM), on Digenia simplex , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral, 3.III.1986 . 5 juv. ( SMF 1284 ), on Digenia simplex , 5 l of substratum, mesolittoral, 3.IV.1986 .

Description of male: Strikingly large. Dorsal trunk outline oval and rather robust, frequently turquoisegreen. Segments 3 and 4 fused. Crurigers separated by ca. 1/2 of their diameter, dorso-distally bearing small roundish tubercles, dorsally with several short and sparsely arranged setae. Ocular process cone-shaped, as high as basal diameter. Eyes oval, large, distinctly pigmented. Abdomen erect, higher than ocular process, three times as long as broad. Proboscis cylindrical, 2.8 times as long as diameter, in its proximal and distal third slightly narrowing, apically broadly rounded.

Cheliphores relatively long and slender; scape scarcely longer than proboscis, with sparse short setae; chela barely twice as long as broad, with robust un-toothed and distinctly curved fingers; short setae at base of immovable finger and on movable finger. Oviger relatively slender and 6-articled; 3 rd article the longest, 1.15 times as long as 2 nd, both bearing some short setae; 5 th and 6 th article together about as long as 4 th, both densely covered with short setae; distal article the smallest, suboval.

Legs rather robust, articles without pronounced tubercles, sparsely clad with short setae; coxa 1 and coxa 3 of nearly same length, together slightly shorter than coxa 2; the latter in males ventro-distally on legs 3–4 with a relatively long genital process; femur scarcely longer than tibia 1 or tibia 2, all three articles showing a dorso-distal long seta; cement gland ducts situated dorso-medially on proximal half of femur, shaped like a short tubercle, dorso-distally bent, ending in a broad pore. Tarsus as long as broad; propodus strongly bent in its proximal third‚ with a distinct heel, which bears two robust and four slender spines; sole slightly concave, armed with 10 short and anteriorly directed spines accompanied by one short seta on both sides, and very short distal cutting lamella, (cf. Fig. 48 ) less than 10 % of sole length, also flanked by one short seta on both faces, main claw robust, feebly curved, not reaching back as far as anterior margin of heel; auxiliary claw very short.

Measurements: Length of trunk 1.33; width across 1 st crurigers 0.98; length of abdomen 0.37; length of proboscis 0.30; length of cheliphore scape 0.59; length of chela 0.31. Length of articles of leg 3: coxa 1— 0.23; coxa 2—0.67; coxa 3—0.24; femur 0.95, length of tibia 1, 0.85; length of tibia 2, 0.86; tarsus 0.12; propodus 0.54; terminal claw 0.35; auxiliary claw 0.03.

Female: Apart from the sex-specific characters very similar to male. Proboscis directed ventro-laterally, with a pair of conspicuous lobate processes of unknown function. Ovigers present as rudimentary stumps.

Remarks: A. californicus (= A. portus Calman, 1927 ) is a large species for this genus, most closely related to Anoplodactylus stictus Marcus, 1940 from Brazil (Marcus 1940: 42, plate 6) and the eastern Patagonian bank (Stock 1957b: 54). Comparing the original description of A. stictus and the figures in Sawaya (1945: 231, plate 23), both species are in habitus very similar, but A. stictus seems to possess a longer cement gland duct, the two distal articles of the ovigers bearing longer setae than in A. californicus . The ventral lobes on the proboscis of A. stictus females are not indented, in contrast to A. californicus . Relationships with Anoplodactylus quadratispinosus Hedgpeth,1943 are also marked (cf. fig. 59 from Florida and Colombia, but that species may be distinguished at once by its significantly slenderer legs.

A. californicus was very frequently collected in the research area where it colonized phaeophycean stands in shallow water almost exclusively. Almost all records come from the intertidal area, but in the literature the species has also been recorded from greater depths (18 m, Child 1982: 373). No restricted reproduction period, ovigerous males were found in all months—except V and XII.

Distribution: One of the most frequent species in the tropical western Atlantic. There are also records from the western coast of America and the European Mediterranean. A review of the distribution is to be found in Child (1987: 554) and Stock (1986: 404, sub A. portus ).

Figures

FIGURE 48. Anoplodactylus californicus Hall, 1912, all figures male except C: A male trunk dorsal, B male trunk lateral, C female probiscis ventral, D cheliphore, E oviger, F leg 3, G spines and setae on propodal sole, H cement gland duct.