Crucigera websteri Benedict, 1887

Bastida-Zavala, J. Rolando, McCANN, Linda D., Keppel, Erica & Ruiz, Gregory M., 2017, The fouling serpulids (Polychaeta: Serpulidae) from United States coastal waters: an overview, European Journal of Taxonomy 344, pp. 1-76 : 13-14

Crucigera websteri Benedict, 1887

Figs 2 A–B, 3

Crucigera websteri Benedict, 1887: 550–551 , pl. 21, figs 24–25, pl. 22, figs 26–30 (type locality: off Florida, United States, 29°16'30" N, 85°32" W; 43.5 m).

Serpula (Crucigera) websteri – Monro 1933: 1079–1080 (Taboga Island, Panama; 2–4 m; on dead coral).

Crucigera websteri – Berkeley & Berkeley 1941: 57 (Newport Bay, southern California; on “boat bottom”). — Rioja 1961: 311–313, figs 35–39 (Verde Island, Veracruz, eastern Mexico; 9 m, on rocks, corals and mollusk shells). — Hartman 1969: 751 –752, figs 1–4 (southern California; the figures are from Benedict 1887). — Nonato & Luna 1970: 99, figs 102–105 (Alagoas coast, Brazil; 51–100 m, on sand and mud). — ten Hove & Wolf 1984: 55–15, figs 55-9, 55-10a–m (western Florida; 43 m, coarse sand). — ten Hove & Jansen-Jacobs 1984: 155 –160, figs 3a, 4j–l, 5a, 6a–e, 7a–k, 10e, 12 (revision of the genus; Florida, Surinam, Pacific of Panama and southern California; 2–86 m; occasionally as fouling). — Laverde-Castillo 1988: 86 –87, figs 2a–e (Málaga Bay, Colombian Pacific; shallow water, on rocks). — León-González 1990: 336, fig. 3a–d (west coast of Baja California Peninsula: Punta San Juanico and Cabo San Lázaro, Baja California Sur; 27–30 m). — Perkins 1998: 95 (checklist of shallow-water polychaetes of Florida). — Bastida-Zavala 2008: 16 – 17, figs 4C–D (California and Mexican Pacific: Baja California Sur, Guerrero and Oaxaca; intertidal to 73 m). — Bastida-Zavala et al. 2016: 409 –410, figs 3, 10H–I (Oaxaca, southern Mexican Pacific).

Material examined

One specimen: HB (1) Sep. 2003.

Additional material

Three specimens: LACMNH s.n., 1 specimen (33°28–40' N, 119°00–30' W, 1.6 km off eastern side of Santa Barbara Island, California, Velero III, sta. 1409, Blake trawl, sand, sea urchins, 37–73 m, 15 Sep. 1941, as Serpula n. sp.); LACMNH s.n., 1 specimen (33°35–36' N, 117°52–53' W, Newport Harbor, Balboa Peninsula, “bay side, floats off Fred Lewi’s Landing”, California, Velero III, sta. 1449, intertidal, “collected off harbor floats and piles from a skiff”, 13 Mar. 1942, as Serpula sp.); LACMNH N8819, 1 specimen (approx. 32°42' N, 118°17' W, San Pedro, California).

Diagnosis

Juvenile specimen. Tube white, thin and smooth; without peristomes, transverse ridges, longitudinal ridges or alveoli. Opercular peduncle smooth, white, with a bulbous region below funnel ( Fig. 2A ). In adult specimens, base of operculum with four digitate processes ( Fig. 2B ). Operculum with a radially symmetric funnel, with 43–52 radii with rounded tips ( Fig. 2 A–B); inner surface of funnel with some rounded tubercles ( Fig. 2 A–B). Collar with bayonet chaetae, with 2–3 blunt and long teeth, smooth distal blade.

Taxonomic remarks

The only specimen of Crucigera websteri from fouling plates was a juvenile, which can be distinguished from juveniles of C. zygophora ( Johnson, 1901) , because the former has a deeply concave funnel and its inner surface has rounded tubercles ( Fig. 2A ), while in the latter the funnel is shallow and smooth, without tubercles ( Fig. 2C ). In adult forms, C. websteri has four digitate processes on the opercular base ( Fig. 2B ), while C. zygophora only has three rounded processes ( Bastida-Zavala 2008).

Ecology

Intertidal to 86 m ( ten Hove & Jansen-Jacobs 1984; Bastida-Zavala 2008); occasionally as fouling on skiffs, floats and dock pilings ( Bastida-Zavala 2008).

Distribution

Amphi-American. Western Atlantic from Florida and Gulf of Mexico to Brazil; eastern Pacific from southern California to Panama ( ten Hove & Jansen-Jacobs 1984). The Amphi-American status of Crucigera websteri follows the hypothesis of Bastida-Zavala et al. (2016: 439), that the eastern Pacific population of this species likely is a Pleistocene relict, because the first Californian record was made by Treadwell (1914), with samples collected at least two years before, and prior to the Panama Canal operation, in addition to the scarce presence of this species in the fouling fauna. Only one specimen was found on a fouling plate from Humboldt Bay, California ( Fig. 3 ), in 2003, suggesting that the species may now be present in northern California. However, additional sampling is necessary to confirm that C. websteri is currently established in northern California.

Figures

Fig. 2. Serpulids from United States fouling plates. Crucigera websteri. A. Operculum, juvenile from Humboldt Bay, California. B. Operculum, adult from San Pedro, California (LACMNH-N8819). – C. zygophora. C. Operculum, juvenile from Alaska (SERC). D. Operculum, adult from Canoe Bay, Alaska (LACMNH-N2128). – Ficopomatus enigmaticus. E. Tubes from Lake Merritt, California (LACMNH-N5141). F. Body, from Chesapeake Bay, Virginia (SERC-59327). G. Operculum, from Chesapeake Bay, Virginia (SERC-60530R). H. Colonies in Long Beach, California (photo by Bruno Pernet).– F. miamiensis. I. Tubes, from Chetumal Bay, Mexican Caribbean (ECOSUR). J–K. Operculum, from Galveston Bay, Texas (SERC-88344RF). – F. uschakovi. L. Tube, from Corpus Christi, Texas (SERC-88883). M. Thorax and operculum, from Galveston Bay, Texas (SERC-86995). N. Operculum, from La Encrucijada, Chiapas (UMAR-Poly 113). O. Thorax and operculum, from Corpus Christi, Texas (SERC-88883).

Fig. 3. Distribution of serpulids (Crucigera and Ficopomatus spp.) from United States fouling plates (closed symbols) and literature records (open symbols).