Enoplometopus callistus Intès & Le Loeuff, 1970

Poupin, Joseph, 2003, Reef lobsters Enoplometopus A. Milne Edwards, 1862 from French Polynesia, with a brief revision of the genus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Enoplometopidae), Zoosystema 25 (4), pp. 643-664 : 656-657

Enoplometopus callistus Intès & Le Loeuff, 1970 ( Fig. 8 )

Enoplometopus callistus Intès & Le Loeuff, 1970: 1442 (type locality: Gulf of Guinea, Ghana, off Takoradi).

Enoplometopus (Hoplometopus) callistus – Holthuis 1983: 282 (new subgenus).

Enoplometopus callistus – González Pérez 1995: 136 (Canary Islands). — Wirtz & Herrera 1995: 116 (Canary Islands). — Wirtz 1996: 368 (Canary Islands; 20-200 m). — Chan & Yu 1998: 190 (key). — Debelius 1999: 44 (Canary Islands).

Enoplometopus biafri Burukovsky, 1972: 180 ( Nigeria). — Burukovsky 1983: 153 (key). — Holthuis 1983: 281 (synonymy).

Hoplometopus callistus – de Saint Laurent 1988: 61 (list).

Some additional references can be found in González Pérez (1995).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — East Atlantic. Gulf of Guinea: Ghana, off Takoradi, c. 5°30’N, 2°W, trawl 48 m, V.1968, coll. fishermen, 1 ♂ cl 42 mm, bl 128 mm (holotype, MNHN As 51). —?Market, 18.XII.1967, 1 ♂ cl 45 mm, bl 140 mm, 1 ♀ cl 53.5 mm, bl 153 mm ( MNHN As 627).

DISTRIBUTION. — East Atlantic : Gulf of Guinea (off Ghana, off Nigeria); Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, La Palma, Tenerife). Deep distribution: 30-200 m. On hard bottoms.

DIAGNOSIS. — Lateral margin of rostrum with three or four spines. Carapace with five median, one postcervical, one intermediate, one supraocular, and two lateral spines. Chela broad and compressed, 2.6-3.9 times as long as wide, upper and lower faces of palm smooth; outer margin of dactyl with nine or 10 spines disposed over entire length (see Remarks). Dactyl of second pereopod 0.3 times as long as propodus. Pleura of abdominal somites II-V finely denticulated and with sharp median tooth ( Fig. 8B ). Distal margin of male first pleopod with small denticulations, as illustrated on Figure 8C , without deep indentation. Telson with two lateral and two distolateral spines.

COLORATION

Carapace, abdomen and chelae pale orange with large orange red patches. Antennae white. Ambulatory legs orange with narrow white bands ( González Pérez 1995; Wirtz 1996).

REMARKS

The arrangement of spines on the carapace, as indicated herein, differs slightly from the original description by Intès & Le Loeuf (1970). These authors indicate four median plus two postcervical spines, instead of five median plus one postcervical spine in this work. This is because they have considered as “postcervical” the posteriormost median spine that is in fact situated on the cervical groove, as observed also in E. crosnieri .

The arrangement of spines on the outer margin of dactyl of chela was first used by Bouvier (1915) who distinguished two states: 1) two to three spines disposed at tip only; or 2) spines disposed over the full length. Although state 2) clearly applies here for the type of E. callistus , it has been observed that spines on the proximal two thirds are reduced to spiny scales in the two larger specimens examined (MNHN As 627), a variation that could be a source of misidentification if not taken into account (cf. Fig. 8A and Fig. 8D ).

Marginal denticulation of pleura II-V is a new diagnositic character for the genus. It has also been observed in a juvenile of E. holthuisi (♂ cl 22.5 MNHN As 271) which has tiny denticles on pleura II-III only, and is also illustrated for a juvenile of E. antillensis in Manning & Camp (1989: 415 , fig. 4D). Therefore, it seems to be a juvenile character that is retained in the adult stage of E. callistus .

Figures

FIG. 8. — Enoplometopus callistus Intès & Le Loeuff, 1970, ♂ holotype cl 42 mm, Ghana (MNHN As 51); A, dactyl of left cheliped, dorsal view; B, margins of abdominal pleura II-VI, left side; C, right first pleopod, outer view, ♂ cl 45 mm, Ghana (MNHN As 627); D, dactyl of left cheliped, dorsal view (setae omitted). Scale bars: 5 mm.