Trichopeltarion spinulifer (Rathbun, 1898)

Tavares, Marcos & Cleva, Régis, 2010, Trichopeltariidae (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura), A New Family And Superfamily Of Eubrachyuran Crabs With Description Of One New Genus And Five New Species, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo) 50 (9), pp. 97-157 : 143-145

Trichopeltarion spinulifer (Rathbun, 1898)

( Figures 29 A-D)

Trachycarcinus spinulifer .Rathbun,.1898a:278,. pl. 6,. fig. 1.

Trachycarcinus spinulifer .–.Rathbun,.1930:166,.pls. 70-71.

Trichopeltarion nobile . –. Pequegnat,. 1970:185-186,. figs. 6-4,. 6-5;. Salva. &. Feldmann,. 2001:35-36,. figs. 17-18;.Tavares.&.Melo,.2005:236.(part).[non. Trichopeltarion nobile .A..Milne-Edwards,.1880].

Material examined:. Gulf. of. Mexico,. off. Delta. of. the. Mississippi,. “ Albatross ”,. stn 2376,. 29°03’15”N- 88°16’00”W,. 324. fathoms. (592 m),. 11 Feb 1885,. holotype. ♂. 27.3. (rostrum. blunt) x 33.1 mm. ( USNM. 9639);. USA,. Texas,. off. Corpus. Cristi,. 27°23’N- 95°50’W,. 320-360 fms,. 29 Jul 1969,.H.B.. Roberts. det.. [nec T. nobile . A.. Milne-Edwards],. 1 ♂. 68.2 x 80.3 mm.( USNM.128427);. Gulf. of. Mexico,. Texas,. off. Padre. Island,. “Oregon. II”,. stn 10456,. 26°50’N- 96°16’W,. 501 m,. 21 Mar 1969,. A.. Bermudez. det.. [nec T. nobile . A.. Milne-Edwards],. 1 ♂. 77.7 x 95.0 mm.( USNM.1101003);. Gulf. of. Mexico,. “Oregon”,. 1952,. F.A.. Chace. Jr .. det.. Trachycarcinus spinulifer . Rathbun. [nec T. nobile .A.. Milne-Edwards],. 1 ♂.69.4 x 78.2 mm,. 1 ♀.71.0 x 88.2 mm.( USNM. 93674);. Gulf. of. Mexico,.USA,.off. Louisiana,.“Citation”,. stn CO2,. 27°54’18”N- 90°07’32”W,. 632 m,. 13 Nov 1984,.W..&.L.. Pequegnat. det.. 13 Apr 1985.[nec T. nobile .A.. Milne-Edwards],. 10 ♂♂.13.5 x 15.0 mm. to. 64.4 x 77.4 mm,. 3 ♀♀. 12.7 x 14.6 mm. to. 40.0 x 48.5 mm.( USNM.309657);. Gulf. of. Mexico,. “Gyre”,. stn S. 35,. 29°20’45”N- 87°02’15”W,. trawl,. 645-695 m,. 12 Jun 2000,. M.. Wicksten. det.. [nec T. nobile .A.. Milne-Edwards]. 2 ♀♀.22.2 x 26.6 mm.and. 39.8 x 46.7 mm.( USNM.1022065);. Gulf. of. Mexico,. USA,. Florida,. Panama. City,. “Citation”,. stn E02A,. 28°35’01”N- 86°45’44”W,. 625 m,. 13 May 1985,. W.. Pequegnat. det.. 14 Aug 1986. [nec T. nobile . A.. Milne-Edwards]. 2. juveniles. ♀♀. 12.8 x 15.2. and. 16.7 x 20.2 mm,. 2. juveniles,. 1. carapace. ( USNM. 1000621);. Gulf. of. Mexico,. “Oregon”,. stn 319,. 29°20’N- 87°25’W,. 315 fms.(576 m),. 28 Apr 1951,. F.A.. Chace.Jr ..det.. Trachycarcinus spinulifer . Rathbun,. 1 ♂.75.0 x 90.3 mm,. 1 ♀.72.0 x 88.7 mm.(MNHN- B5414,.ex-USNM.92356) .

Comparative Material

Trichopeltarion nobile . –. A.. Milne-Edwards ,. 1880:. Caribbean. Sea,. off. Saint. Lucia,. Blake,. stn 219,. 13°59’50”N- 61°03’50”W,. 15 Feb 1879,. 276.1 m,. holotype. ♂. 76.0 x 65.0 mm. ( MCZ. 3054);. Lesser. Antilles,. Guadeloupe,. West. coast. of. Basse. Terre,. Mission. ORSTOM-IRPM-SMCB,. “Polka”,. trap,. 500 m,. G.. Leblond. &. J.. Poupin. coll.,. Jan. to. May. 1993,. 4 ♂♂.69.2 x 82.5,.72.5 x 86.0,.73.0 x 85.4.&. 76.4 x 90.0 mm.( MNHN-B29897 ) ;. Lesser.Antilles,. Guadeloupe,. Basse.Terre,. Vieux. Habitants,. “Polka”,. trap,. 300-600 m,.D.. Lamy. coll.,. 1 ♂.76.5 x 89.0 mm,. 1 ♀. 66.5 x 79.5 mm. (both. specimens. with. central. rostral.tooth.blunted), 1 ♂.63.3 x 76.4 mm.(dissected). ( MNHN-B29898 ) ;. Caribbean.Sea,. Colombia,.Santa. Marta,. 11°27’04”N- 73°42’12”W,.A.. Bermudez. det.,. 1 ♀.83.5 x 93.3 mm.( USNM.290255) .

Trichopeltarion pezzutoi .–. Tavares.&. Melo ,.2005.. Brazil:. Bahia,. REVIZEE,. RV. “ Thalassa ”,. stn D-0538,. 13°40’741”S,. 38°71’601”W,. 450-500 m,. mature. ♀. paratype. cl 81.2 mm,. cw. 85.4 mm. ( MNRJ. 14086);.São.Paulo,.FV.“Belem”,.stn 29,. 24°56’21”S,. 44°43’11”W,. 333 m,.E.. Lerchiari. coll.,. 23 Jul 2002,. juvenile. ♀. paratype.cl 46 mm,.cw. 48 mm.( MZUSP. 16715);. Cabo. de. Santa.Marta,. Santa.Catarina,. Fishing. boat,. 400-500 m,. C.. Magenta. leg.. Oct 2004,. mature. ♂. holotype.cl 69 mm,.cw. 71 mm.( MZUSP. 16714) .

Type locality:.Gulf.of. Mexico,.off.Delta.of.the.Mississipi,.592.meters.

Remarks:.Rathbun.(1898a).described. Trachycarcinus spinulifer . Rathbun,. 1898,. based. on. one. immature. male. (cl 28 mm). and. a. broken. carapace,. both. obtained.off.the.delta.of.the. Mississippi.River.between. 592. and. 635. meters. depth.. Pequegnat. (1970:184). argued. that. the. morphological. differences. between. T. spinulifer .and. T. nobile .(Rathbun,.1898a:278-279;. 1930:166-167). are. referable. to. the. age. and. size. of. the.specimens.and,.accordingly,.placed. T. spinulifer . in. the. synonymy. of. T. nobile . . Salva. &. Feldmann. (2001:34). followed. Pequegnat. (1970). in. considering. T. spinulifer .a.more.recent.synonym.of. T. nobile . . Upon. examination. of. the. holotype. of. T. spinulifer . alone,.Tavares.&.Melo.(2005:240).subscribed.to.the. synonymy.between.the.two.species..However,.for.the. present. study. several. additional. specimens. of. both. T. spinulifer . and. T. nobile . have. been. obtained,. including. the. adult. male. holotype. of. T. nobile . .The. study. of. adult. males. and. females. prompted. us. to. remove. T. spinulifer . from. the. synonymy. of. the. later. species.. Differences. between. T. spinulifer . and. T. nobile .are.as.follows:.(i) P5.merus-carpus.articulation. almost. reaching. the. proximal. end. of. the. second. epibranchial. tooth. (whilst. in. T. nobile . the. P5. merus-carpus.articulation.lies.well.before.the.second. epibranchial.tooth,. figure 30A);. (ii) P4.the.merus-carpus.articulation.reaching.well.beyond.the.second. epibranchial.tooth.(whilst.in. T. nobile .the.merus-carpus.articulation.do.not.reach.the.second.epibranchial.tooth);.(iii) the.carapace.is.entirely.and.regularly. covered.with.sparse.fine.hairs.of.two.different.sizes,. easily.recognizable.in.profile.view.(while.in. T. nobile . the.carapace.is.covered.by.a.thick.coat.of.velvet.(figure 30A),. see. also. A.. Milne-Edwards,. 1880:20-21;. Rathbun,. 1930;. Salva. &. Feldmann,. 2001:34;. Tavares. &. Melo,. 2005:240);. (iv) carapace. distinctly. and.regularly.humped.over.its.entire.dorsal.surface,. humps. from. the. meta-gastric,. cardiac,. branchial,. and. intestinal. regions. of. the. carapace. crested. with. granules.or.spiny.tubercles.(whereas.in. T. nobile .the. carapace.is.ornamented.with.small.spiny.tubercles.or. granules.near.the.margins.while.its.central.parts.are. smooth).

T. spinulifer .can.be.easily.split.from.its.Southwestern.Atlantic.congener,. Trichopeltarion pezzutoi ,. by. the. ornamentation. of. the. dorsal. surface. of. the. carapace. distinctly. and. regularly. humped. over. its. entire. surface. (regularly. covered. with. rounded. tubercles. in. T. pezzutoi ). and. the. posterior. region. of. the.carapace.sparsely.tuberculated.(heavily.tuberculated.in. T. pezzutoi )..Additionally,. T. pezzutoi .(figure. 30B).shares.with. T. nobile .the.P5.merus-carpus.articulation.lying.well.before.the.second.epibranchial. tooth. (merus-carpus. articulation. almost. reaching. the. epibranchial. tooth. in. T. spinulifer ). and. the. P4. merus-carpus. articulation. not. reaching. the. second. epibranchial.tooth.(merus-carpus.articulation.reaching. well. beyond. the. second. epibranchial. tooth. in. T. spinulifer ).

Distribution: T. spinulifer . is. known. so. far. from. the. Gulf.of. Mexico,.between.501.and.695.meters.depth.. Three. additional.species. are.known.from.the.Atlantic.Ocean.to.date,. T. nobile .(Caribbean.Sea,.between. 276.and.600.meters.depth),. T. intesi .(Crosnier,.1981),. from. West. Africa. (Ivory. Coast,. 600. meters. depth),. and. T. pezzutoi .from.the.Southwestern.Brazilian.coast. between.333.and.500.meters.depth.

Figures

FIGURE 29:.Trichopeltarion spinulifer.(Rathbun,.1898)..A-B, Holotype.male.27.3 x 33.1 mm.(USNM.9639)..C-D, Male.75.0 x 90.3 mm. (MNHN-B5414)..A, C, General.dorsal.view..B, D, Carapace.in.dorsal.view.