Callipallene cf. gabriellae Correa, 1948

George, Zarish, Siddiqui, Ghazala, George, Nazish & Lucena, Rudá Amorim, 2020, A new species of Achelia (Pycnogonida: Ammotheidae) and first records of intertidal sea spiders found on Zoanthus (Cnidaria: Zoantharia) from Karachi Pakistan, Zootaxa 4821 (2), pp. 371-393 : 381

Callipallene cf. gabriellae Correa, 1948

( Figure 8 )

Callipallene kenyensis Müller, 1990a: 71–74 , figs. 21–26.

Material examined: ( CEMB, PYC– 019) 1♀, Sandspit, 01.xii.2014, on Zoanthus sansibaricus .

Description: Trunk 0.4 mm in length, small, robust, segmentation line absent between the third and fourth segment. Neck very short. Lateral process as long as it is wide. Ocular tubercle low and rounded. Proboscis short with prominent angulate margin. Abdomen distally-rounded and doesn’t reach beyond the distal margin of the fourth lateral process. Chelifore scape and chela robust, with immovable finger setae with eight teeth along the internal margin and four teeth on the distal margin, while the moveable finger has seven teeth on the internal margin and three elongated setae at the base of the moveable finger. Oviger nine-articled, fourth article longest, last four articles subequal with a single row of denticulate, leaf-like spines having the formula 5:5:5:6. Legs slightly short and robust with setae; coxa 2 slightly larger than coxae 1 and 3, and with few setae; femur slightly more robust and slightly shorter than tibia 1 or 2, tibia 2 with few setae; tarsus very short with few ventral setae; propodus slightly curved, with four to five long dorsal setae, heel not very prominent with four strong spines, sole straight with five spines; main claw less than half the length of the propodus, auxiliary claw two-thirds of the length of the main claw.

Measurements (mm): Length of trunk (measured from the anterior margin of the cephalic segment to distal margin of the lateral process 4), 0.5; trunk width (across segment 2), 0.33; length of abdomen, 0.1; length of proboscis, 0.2; length of chelifore, 0.27; third leg – coxa 1, 0.1; coxa 2, 0.18; coxa 3, 0.14; femur, 0.35; tibia 1, 0.38; tibia 2, 0.4; tarsus, 0.05; propodus, 0.27; main claw, 0.12.

Remarks: The present specimens more closely resemble the original description by Corrêa (1948) than the description given by Müller (1990). This specimen has a compact trunk, four heel spines, without segmentation between trunk segments 3 and 4, and without ornamentation in the auxiliaries, as described by Corrêa (1948). Further differences include the number of denticulate spines on the last four articles of the oviger (5:5:5: 6 in the present specimen, 5:5:4:4: in Corrêa’s description, and 4:3:3: 5 in Müller’s), the number of spines on the sole (five in the present specimen, ten in Corrêa’s, and four in Müller’s), and the number of teeth on the chelae (19 in the present specimen, and 14 in Correa’s and Müller’s).

The differences between Correa’s (1948) and Müller’s (1990a) descriptions, and the 9-articulated oviger of this specimen (10-articled in C. kenyensis ), leave its identification in doubt. If our identification confirmed, it will be the first record of the species in Pakistani waters.

Distribution: Oman ( Stock 1992), Kenya ( Müller 1990a), Brazil ( Corrêa 1948).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Callipallene cf. gabriellae Correa, 1948, male: (A) dorsal view; (B) lateral view; (C) chelifore; (D) oviger; (E) 3rd leg. Scale bar: (A–B) 1 mm; (C) 0.1 mm; (D) 0.1 mm; (E) 0.5 mm.