The Echinoderm Fauna of the Azores (NE Atlantic Ocean)
Author
Madeira, Patrícia
Author
Kroh, Andreas
Author
Cordeiro, Ricardo
Author
De, António M.
Author
Martins, Frias
Author
Ávila, Sérgio P.
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-07-19
4639
1
1
231
journal article
26164
10.11646/zootaxa.4639.1
812e0570-38c6-4f6e-840c-7d52d87a8c12
1175-5326
PMC6910866
31712455
3342161
B1690E30-EC81-46D3-881D-97648DDC7745
Genocidaris maculata
Agassiz, 1869
(
Fig. 27
)
Reports for the
Azores
:
Temnechinus maculatus
Agassiz, 1869
.—
Agassiz 1872: 165
, 215, 286–289, pl. 8, fig. 1–18;
$
Koehler 1898: 21–22
, pl. 8, figs. 3, 9;
p.p.
Sphaerechinus granularis
—
$
Agassiz 1881: 106–107
;
Genocidaris maculata
Agassiz, 1869
—
Mortensen 1903: 85
,
1927a: 292
,
1943b: 358–362
, figs. 219, 220, pl. 18, figs. 37– 47;
$
Koehler 1909: 226–227
, pl. 31, fig. 3;
Koehler 1921b: 115–116
, fig. 76;
$
H.L.
Clark 1925: 76–77
;
Tortonese 1965: 321– 322
, fig. 150;
Serafy & Fell 1985: 21
;
Pereira 1997: 334
;
García-Diez
et al
. 2005: 50
;
Mironov 2006: 211–212
;
Micael &
Costa
2010: 323
;
Micael
et al
. 2012: 4
;
Gonocidaris maculata
Agassiz, 1869
—
Koehler 1914b: 278
, 283;
Genocidaris maculata splendes
Mortenten (1927b)
—
Mortensen 1943b: 362–363
, fig. 221a.
Type
locality:
Caribbean waters.
See:
Agassiz (1869: 262–263)
;
Mortensen (1943b)
;
Mironov (2006)
;
Benavides-Serrato
et al
. (2012: 70)
.
Occurrence:
Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic (Tortonesen 1965); in the West from Cape Cod, through the Caribbean to North
Brazil
waters (
Serafy & Fell 1985
); in the East from the North African coasts to the Gulf of
Guinea
(
Cadenat 1938
), including the Azores (Koehler 1990), Madeira (
Jesus & Abreu 1998
), Canary archipelagos (
Mortensen 1943b
), and Gorringe, Josephine and Seine seamounts (
Mironov 2006
).
Depth:
12–500 m
(
Tortonese 1965
); AZO: (?0)20–200(?823) m (
Agassiz 1881
, herein).
Habitat:
sandy to coralligenous substrates (
Koehler 1909
,
1921b
); feeds on bottom material, ingesting small benthic animals (
e.g.,
foraminiferans, molluscs and bryozoans;
Serafy & Fell 1985
).
Larval stage:
planktotrophic (
Emlet 1995
).
Material examined:
DBUA-ECH
144 (off Vinha da Areia, Vila
Franca
do Campo,
SMG
,
AZO
,
37°42’11”N
,
25°25’04”W
,
2006.09.05
,
66 m
; 2 bts, D =
4–7 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
146 (off Ribeira das Tainhas,
SMG
,
AZO
,
37°41’57”N
,
25°25’08”W
,
2006.07.
24
, 144–198 m; 2 bt, D =
4–5 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
147 (off Vinha da Areia, Vila
Franca
do Campo,
SMG
,
AZO
,
37°42’09”N
,
25°25’04”W
,
2006.09.05
,
81 m
; 1 bt, D =
4 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
149 (off Ribeira das Tainhas,
SMG
, Azores,
37°42’01”N
,
25°25’01”W
,
2006.07.
24
, 117–145 m; 1 bt, D =
6 mm
);
DBUA-
ECH 151 (S„o Vicente,
SMG
,
AZO
,
c.
37°50’06”N
,
25°40’10”W
,
1997.07.
14
, 30 m; 1 spm, D =
7 mm
);
DBUA-
ECH 153 (S„o Vicente,
SMG
,
AZO
,
c.
37°50’06”N
,
25°40’10”W
,
1997.07.
14
, 30 m; 1 spm, D =
7 mm
);
DBUA-
ECH 154 (Água d’Alto,
SMG
,
AZO
,
c.
37°42’55”N
,
25°28’27”W
,
1991.07.30
; 1 spm, D =
7 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
155 (Poços de S„o Vicente,
SMG
,
AZO
,
c.
37°50’06”N
,
25°40’10”W
,
1996.07.08
, intertidal; 1 spm, D =
7 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
159 (Vila
Franca
do Campo,
SMG
,
AZO
,
37°41’39”N
,
25°27’11”W
,
2006.07.
21
, 95–121 m; 3 bts, D =
5–6 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
160 (S„o Vicente,
SMG
,
AZO
,
c.
37°50’06”N
,
25°40’10”W
,
1997.07.14
,
1991.07.11
;
1 specimen
, D =
7 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
186 (Vila
Franca
do Campo,
SMG
,
AZO
,
37°41’34”N
,
25°27’15”W
,
2006.07.
19
, 126–171 m; 1 bts, D =
5 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
204 (Baixa do Jo„o Lopes, SMA,
AZO
,
c.
37°01’13”N
,
25°10’05”W
,
2014.06.
26
, 30–35 m; 1 spm, D =
6 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
221 (S„o Vicente,
SMG
,
AZO
,
c.
37°50’06”N
,
25°40’10W
”,
1997.07.14
,
1997.07.
11
, 20 m; 1 spm, D =
5 mm
);
DBUA-ECH
327 (Sabrina Bank,
SMG
,
37°52’55”N
,
25°54’25”W
,
2011.07.08
,
200 m
; 1 spm, D =
8 mm
); L09D9B20S01 (Gorringe Bank,
36°42’49”N
,
11°09’54”W
,
2009.09.
13
, 130 m; 2 bt, D =
6 mm
); DOP 3015 (Channel PIX–FAY,
AZO
,
38°34’15.60”N
,
28°32’31.20”W
,
2008–06–
16
, 50 m; 1 spm, D =
8 mm
).
Description:
test hemispherical, relatively high, height varying from about 48–50%D in smaller specimens (D <
4 mm
) to 65–70%D in larger specimens (D>
6 mm
). Apical disc dicyclic with oculars well separated from periproct. Periproctal membrane with one large naked round plate (with conspicuous radial striation) and few very small additional plates. Genital plates with three to five spines and oval (elongated) pores. Peristome mostly naked except for the small buccal plates with few pedicellariae.Ambulacra with one primary tubercle per plate, occasionally slightly smaller than the corresponding one in the interambulacral plates, forming a more or less regular vertical series; bases of primary tubercles indented, particularly in the ambulacral areas. Ambulacral plates trigeminate with the pores forming a regular straight vertical series; pore-zones slightly sunken. Interambulacra presenting a single primary tubercle per plate forming a regular vertical series. Spines smooth relatively small (16–24%D). Globiferous pedicellaria with double poison glands and a single, tooth on one side beneath the terminal tooth. Colour: naked test green, brown or light brown with white spots just above the ambitus; spines hyaline, with red or pink bands; exceptionally white with traces of pink bands on some of the spines (DBUA-ECH 327).
Remarks:
Mortensen (1927b)
described a new extant
Genocidaris
species,
G
.
splendens
based on material collected by
Talisman
in the
Canaries
. This species differed from the typical
G
.
maculata
by its bright red colour, low test, the presence of a depression in the ambulacral (and interambulacral) midline aborally and a relative smaller suranal plate. In a later review,
Mortensen (1943b)
downgraded his species to a variety of
G
.
maculata
as all discussed diagnostic characters proved to be unreliable with both species presenting intermediate characters.
Mortensen (1943b)
concluded that
G
.
splendens
was at best just a colour variability of
G
.
maculata
. In spite of the great morphological variation revealed by the material herein examined we found no clear evidence that any of the specimens belong to the variety ‘
splendens
’. None had a particularly small suranal plate, a low test, or mid-line depressions. Regarding the colour pattern our material comprehended all possible transitions from the ‘typical’ olive through various shades of red. Our observations agree with
Mironov (2006)
who also questioned the validity of the variety ‘
splendens
’, based on animals from the Ormonde and Gorringe seamounts (NE Atlantic).
In the DBUA-ECH collection we have found a small white echinoid collected from the Sabrina Bank, SW of S„o Miguel Island (DBUA-ECH 327,
Fig. 27
J–L). At first it was assumed to be the small echinoid
Trigonocidaris albida
, a species that also lives in the Azores at similar depths (see above). This species generally presents a white test with the distal edge of the apical disc light orange or greenish-yellow and white spines that aborally present a light red band just above the base. However, on closer examination we have found it to be a typical
G
.
maculata
with exception of its very unusual colour. Aside from the colour pattern, the specimen does not present many of the typical morphological characteristics of the genus
Trigonocidaris
or the species
T
. albida
,
such as a low test height (±50%D), buccal membrane covered by large imbricate plates or a periproct with four large angular plates (see
Mortensen 1943b
). On the contrary, the specimen presented a relatively high hemispherical test (=60%D), a naked buccal membrane with exception of the buccal plates and a peristome with a very large round and green suranal plate. Also, the test of DBUA-ECH 327 was not conspicuously ornamented as is typical observed in
T
.
albida
. The globiferous pedicellaria can be differentiated easily based on the poison glands, which are single in
T
.
albida
and double in
G
.
maculata
and in our white specimen (see
Mortensen 1903
, pl. 8, fig. 7). Though both species present globiferous pedicellaria with a single unpaired tooth beneath the terminal tooth, the ones of our white specimen look like typical
G
.
maculata
pedicellariae: a widened basal part with sharp corners, a very narrow blade (see
Mortensen 1903
, pl. 7, fig. 30).
Historically,
G
.
maculata
was mistakenly reported in the
Azores
by
Agassiz (1872
, as
Tenmechinus maculatus
) based on material collected in the Josephine Seamount. Later,
Agassiz (1881)
identified the species
Sphaerechinus granularis
among the material collected by the H.M.S.
Challenger
in the
Azores
(sta 75:
38°37’N
,
28°30’W
), which later were re-identified by H.L.
Clark (1925)
as red coloured
G
.
maculata
(see also remarks under
S. granularis
).
G
.
maculata
is a small echinoid typical of low subtidal waters up to
500 m
.
However, among the material examined we have found one specimen (DBUA-ECH 155,
Fig. 27
A–C) labelled as being collected in the intertidal waters of S„o Miguel Island. The possibility of mislabelling could not be overruled. However, the area where the specimen was collected is characterized by a sheltered and rather large tide-pool. Small animals of this species could survive among the crevices, algae or under the boulders in the relative protected waters of this tide-pool, in a similar fashion of the much larger echinoid
Centrostephanus longispinus
, also a typical deeper inhabitant of littoral waters but seen in waters as low as
5 m
depth in some places in the Azores (see remarks under
C
.
longispinus
). Conversely,
Agassiz (1881)
reported two different depths for the H.M.S.
Challenger
, station 75 where
G
.
maculata
was identified (
92–165 m
and
823 m
), suggesting perhaps a mislabelling. Studying the known depth ranges of other echinoderms species also collected at this station we believe that shallower depth values are likely to be the correct ones (see remarks under
Astropecten hermatophilus
).