Anoplodactylus, Wilson, 1878

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 : 387

Anoplodactylus sp.

( Figure 11 )

Material examined: ( CEMB, PYC– 028) 1 juvenile, Buleji, 20.x.2014, on Zoanthus sansibaricus .

Description: Body length 1 mm, slender, unsegmented. Proboscis cylindrical. Ocular tubercle conical with pigmented eyes. Abdomen short, distal margin hardly reaching the extremity of the fourth lateral process. Chelifore with small setae, chela small, sharp, with setae and fingers of equal size, without teeth. Oviger absent. Legs long, slender, with setae, coxa 1 and coxa 3 subequal, coxa 2 longer, with some terminal setae; femur slightly longer than tibia 1 and tibia 2, with a large distal seta; tarsus short with 2 or 3 small ventral spines; propodus with three or four spines; main claw well-developed, four-fifths of the propodus length. Auxiliary claws absent.

Measurements (mm): Length of trunk (measured from the anterior margin of the cephalic segment to distal margin of the lateral process 4), 1; trunk width (across segment 2), 0.625; length of abdomen, 0.25; length of proboscis, 0.575; length of chelifore, 0.625; third leg – coxa 1, 0.25; coxa 2, 0.375; coxa 3, 0.25; femur, 0.85; tibia 1, 0.75; tibia 2, 0.775; tarsus, 0.1; propodus, 0.5; main claw, 0.15.

Remarks: According to the literature, three species of Anoplodactylus have been recorded from algae in Pakistan waters: A. turbidus Stock, 1975 from Buleji and Pasni, A. angulatus ( Dohrn, 1881) from Pasni and Anoplodactylus sp. from Sandspit ( Gul & Ghani 2012). The present specimen differs because of its slender habitus, unlike A. angulatus , A. turbidus and Anoplodactylus sp., which have a robust habitus. From the three other known species recorded from the Gulf of Oman ( Lucena et al. 2018), the present species can be distinguished from A. digitatus ( Böhm, 1879) and A. tarsalis Stock, 1968 by its unsegmented trunk (slenderer then A. tarsalis ), and from A. glandulifer Stock, 1954 because of its slender habitus and absence of cutting lamella on the sole.

The identification of females and juveniles in this genus is almost impossible without an adult male specimen. As such, we could not identify to the specific level. We can nevertheless affirm that it is a not a previously registered species from Pakistan’s waters, revealing the need for new data to better understand the diversity of the region.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Anoplodactylus sp., juvenile: (A) dorsal view; (B) lateral view; (C) chelifore; (D) 3rd leg; (E) claw of propodus. Scale bar: (A–B) 1.1 mm; (C) 0.2 mm; (D–E) 0.5 mm.