Homolodromia bouvieri Doflein, 1904

Muñoz, Isabel, García-Isarch, Eva & Cuesta, Jose A., 2021, Annotated and updated checklist of marine crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura) of Mozambique supported by morphological and molecular data from shelf and slope species of the “ MOZAMBIQUE ” surveys, Zootaxa 5056 (1), pp. 1-67 : 10-12

Homolodromia bouvieri Doflein, 1904

( Figure 2A )

Material examined. M08, Stn. 22, 618m, ♂ 29.6× 25.5mm (IEO-CD-MZ08/1777), 16S ( MZ 424903 ) , COI ( MZ 434752 ) ; M08, Stn. 39, 631m, ♂ 25× 28.7mm (IEO-CD-MZ08/1908), 16S ( MZ 424904 ) , COI ( MZ 434753 ) ; M08, Stn. 104, 692m, ♀ 29.9× 34.8mm (IEO-CD-MZ08/1801), 16S ( MZ 424905 ) , COI ( MZ 434754 ) .

Habitat and distribution. Currently there are only 6 species within the genus Homolodromia ( Davie et al. 2015a) , being H. bouvieri the only one with representation in southern African waters ( Kensley 1981; Martin 1992; Sasaki 2019), including Mozambique. General distribution of H. bouvieri : off Natal, 500–700m ( Kensley 1977, 1981), Kenia (863m) and Mozambique (850–960m) ( Doflein 1904; Martin 1992). Nevertheless, the species was not reported in Mozambican waters in the checklist by Emmerson (2016c).

Results and remarks. Our specimens agree well with the descriptions given by Doflein (1904), the redescription of the species from specimens from Mozambique made by Martin (1992), and the comparison with the new species described recently from the northern Indian Ocean, H. rajeevani Padate, Cubelio & Jayachandran and previously confused with H. bouvieri (Padate et al. 2020) . Three specimens were collected during the M08, at depths between 618– 692m. These records extend the bathymetric range of this species in Mozambique waters, from 850–960m to 618–960m, and also its geographical distribution, being the specimens reported southernmost Mozambique.

Colouration observed. The specimens had a homogeneous dark beige colour with a certain yellowish tone.

DNA barcodes. 16S and COI sequences were obtained for the three specimens. There are not sequences of these two genetic markers available for this genus on any public database. Therefore, these are the first 16S and COI barcodes for this species and genus. In the case of 16S each specimen showed a different haplotype differing in one mutation each, while only two haplotypes were observed for COI, differing from one another in one single mutation.

Superfamily HOMOLOIDEA De Haan, 1839 [in De Haan, 1833 –1850]

Family HOMOLIDAE De Haan, 1839 [in De Haan, 1833 –1850]

The homolids are also known as “carrier crabs” or “porter crabs” due to their behaviour of carrying things on them, mainly helped by the P5 that are modified for this ( Miyake 1983; Guinot et al. 1995, 2013). The presence of fouling on their bodies is also quite common ( Guinot & Wicksten 2015).

According to Davie et al. (2015a), Homolidae includes 14 genera and 70 species, while only six genera and seven species have been cited in Mozambican waters ( Barnard 1950; Guinot 1967a; Guinot & Richer de Forges 1995; Kensley 1981; Ng & Kumar 2015; Poupin 2018). Also, an Homologenus sp. was reported by Emmerson (2016c) based on a personal communication by Chan from the MB-exp.

Figures

FIGURE2.A,Homolodromiabouvieri,♀ IEO-CD-MZ08/1801;B,Homola orientalis,♂IEO-CD-MZ09/1806;C,Homolochunia valdiviae, ♀ IEO-CD-MZ09/1805; D, Moloha alcocki, ♀ IEO-CD-MZ09/1793;E, Paromolopsis boasi, ♀ IEO-CD-MOZ08/1827; F, Latreilla metanessa, ♀ IEO-CD-MZ09/1810; G, Latreilla valida, ♀ IEO-CD-MZ09/1779. Scale bars: 1cm.