Homolodromia bouvieri Doflein, 1904

Guinot, Danièle & Quenette, Gwenaël, 2005, The spermatheca in podotreme crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Podotremata) and its phylogenetic implications, Zoosystema 27 (2), pp. 267-342 : 280

Homolodromia bouvieri Doflein, 1904

Ovigerous female 33 × 26 mm, Madagascar, trawling 123, 30.XI. 1980, 800 m, Rudo von Cosel coll., A. Crosnier det. 2003 (MNHN-B 28940).

The sternal sutures 7/8 of this big female are marked and lined by a thickening at each spermathecal aperture, which is raised at the summit of a strong tubercule, at the level of the P3 coxae and very close to the wide female gonopores ( Fig. 27A ). In this specimen a small sperm plug fills the two apertures. The pattern is the same as in the Dromiinae , for example Lauridromia intermedia (Laurie, 1906) ( Fig. 13 ), except that in Homolodromia sutures 7/8 are shorter and spermathecal apertures opposite P3 coxae (while ending at the level of P1 coxae in Lauridromia ). The specimen was not dissected.

Figures

FIG. 27. — A, Homolodromia bouvieri Doflein, 1904 (Homolodromiidae), ovigerous female 33 × 26 mm, Madagascar (MNHN- B 28940), thoracic sternum (sternites 1-3 not drawn); B, Cryptodromia tuberculata Stimpson, 1858 (Dromiidae), ovigerous female 9 × 10 mm (with large eggs), New Caledonia, Karembé, McLay det. (MNHN-B 26387), spermathecal apertures as long opened slits. Abbreviations: a, spermathecal aperture; cx1-cx5, P1-P5 coxae; e4, e5, episternites 4, 5; g, female gonopore; sl, slit; t, tubercule; 4-8, sternites 4-8; 6/7, 7/8, thoracic sternal sutures 6/7, 7/8. Scale bar: A, 5 mm; B, 2.5 mm.

FIG. 13. — Lauridromia intermedia (Laurie, 1906), female 37.3 × 35.4 mm, New Caledonia (MNHN-B 26441); A, thoracic sternum; B, C, two views of the tubercle bearing spermathecal aperture (notice that the two sheets of the phragma 7/8 are not completely joined in their terminal parts). Abbreviations: a, spermathecal aperture; cx1-cx3, cx5, P1, P2, P3, P5 coxae; g, female gonopore; o.p., opened part of the phragma 7/8; s.p., sperm plug; t, tubercle; 4-8, sternites 4-8; 5/6-7/8, thoracic sternal sutures 5/6 to 7/8. Scale bars: A, C, 2.5 mm; B, 5 mm.