Amphibalanus amphitrite ( Darwin, 1854 )

Shahdadi, Adnan, Sari, Alireza & Naderloo, Reza, 2014, A checklist of the barnacles (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Thoracica) of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman with nine new records, Zootaxa 3784 (3), pp. 201-223 : 212-214

Amphibalanus amphitrite ( Darwin, 1854)

( Figs 7 a–n)

Material examined. ZUTC-cirri 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1106, 1107, 1108, 1109, 1110, 1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1115, 1116, 1117, 1118, 1119, 1120, 1121.

Persian Gulf. Nilsson-Cantell (1938) as Balanus amphitrite hawaiiensis from an unknown locality; Stubbings (1961) as B. amphitrite var. communis , and B. amphitrite var. hawaiiensis , from Kuwait; Utinomi (1969) as B. amphitrite from Hormoz Island; Jones (1986) as B. amphitrite var. communis from Kuwait ( Fig. 1 ); present study.

Gulf of Oman. Utinomi (1969) as Balanus amphitrite from an unknown locality; present study.

General distribution and habitat. Cosmopolitan in tropical to temperate seas, fouling various substrata, littoral to sublittoral ( Jones et al. 2000; present study).

Descriptive features and remarks. Specimens examined show some morphological variations. Most specimens with conic shells ( Figs 7 m, n) and typical tergum and scutum ( Figs 7 a–d). In dense clusters, shell cylindrical, but specimens within oyster populations with depressed shell, with tergum and scutum long, narrow ( Figs 7 e–h).

Exposed and eroded shells with no purple stripes externally. Tergum with spur short, round, and carinal margin rounded; scutum with articular furrow deep ( Figs 7 i–l).

Largest specimen (ZUTC-cirri 1110) with basal diameter 27.2 mm, height 11.2 mm.

This species is common in various localities along the Iranian coast, occurring in habitats with salinities ranging from 5 ppt in the Bahmanshir River, together with A. subalbidus ( Fig. 1 ) to 43 ppt. Specimens also attach to various substrata, such as mangrove trunks and pneumatophores, human-made structures, intertidal rocks, mollusc shells, crab carapaces, ship and vessel hulls and floating objects.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map of sampling sites of the species recorded in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

FIGURE 7. Amphibalanus amphitrite (Darwin, 1854); a – d. typical tergum and scutum from a conic shell, a. tergum, external view; b. tergum, internal view; c. scutum, external view; d. scutum, internal view; e – h. elongated tergum and scutum from a depressed shell; e. tergum, external view; f. tergum, internal view; g. scutum, external view; h. scutum, internal view; i –. l. tergum and scutum, from an exposed, eroded specimen; i. tergum, external view; j. tergum, internal view; k. scutum, external view; l. scutum, internal view; m. specimens on a floating object, ZUTC-cirri 1107, Minab, Strait of Hormuz; n. specimens on stone along with Microeuraphia permitini (Zevina & Litvinova, 1970) (brown small specimens), ZUTC-cirri 1102, Minab, Strait of Hormoz.