Dromia personata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Guinot, Danièle & Quenette, Gwenaël, 2005, The spermatheca in podotreme crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Podotremata) and its phylogenetic implications, Zoosystema 27 (2), pp. 267-342 : 286-287

Dromia personata (Linnaeus, 1758)

– Female 6 4.2 × 7 7.1 mm, French coasts (MNHN-B 21971).

The female sternal sutures 7/8 open anteriorly at the level of the P2 and end apart inside a prominent ring; the spermathecal apertures are terminal and rounded ( Fig. 5A ). The bulb of each spermatheca is well defined and prominent, with uneven surface and with a pointed anterior prominence. The chamber ( Fig. 7B ) consists of two parts: inferior part, larger and inflated, superior one more flattened. The inner wall (endosternite 8) is flexible and bears a few scattered calcifications, resulting in a wrinkled texture; the outer wall (endosternite 7) is rigid and its surface smoother. The basal thickening is well marked. The tube is very thick, with terminal orifice. The details conform to the disposition that was already described and figured by Gordon (1950: 244, figs 23, 25, as Dromia vulgaris ) and Hartnoll (1979: 667, fig. 6).

– Female, approximately 36 mm width (MNHN; skeleton prepared by Sylvie Secretan).

The aspect is similar. The chamber contains sperm mass. In smaller immature females the two walls of the chamber are joined.

– Male 58.7 × 74.9 mm, Quiberon(?), Bourdon coll. (MNHN-B 21981).

The sternal plate of the males is characterized by the presence, on its median fused part and at the level of episternites 5, of an unpaired setiferous boss to which corresponds an internal concavity. Suture 7/8 is not in any way modified and ends almost at the level of suture 6/7 and opposite the P3 coxae. As in the immature females, there is no pocket between the two sheets of interosternites 7/8; a basal thickening is not present; the tube is absent. There is a relief, which probably corresponds only to a reinforcement, at the same place as the female’s bulb.

Figures

FIG. 5. — Thoracic sternum in two species of Dromia Weber, 1795 (Dromiidae, Dromiinae); A, D. personata (Linnaeus, 1758), female 47 × 58 mm, France, Island of Yeu (MNHN); B, D. marmorea Forest, 1974, female paratype 57 × 73 mm, near Dakar (MNHN) (Courtesy of J. Forest). Abbreviations: a, spermathecal aperture at extremity of sternal suture 7/8; cx1-cx3, P1-P3 coxae; e4, e5, episternites 4, 5; g, female gonopore; r, ring encircling spermathecal aperture; 4-8, sternites 4-8; 6/7-7/8, thoracic sternal sutures 6/7 to 7/8.

FIG. 7.— Dromia personata (Linnaeus,1758),female 64.2 × 77.1 mm, France (MNHN-B 21971); A, axial skeleton, dorsoventral view, spermathecae in situ, bulb and chamber visible; B, posterior part enlarged, tube discernible on the bottom. Abbreviations: b, bulb; br, transverse bridge; c, spermathecal chamber; i.p., intertagmal phragma; t, spermathecal tube; 8, sternite 8. (See Secretan 1998: fig. 11). Scale bar: A, 1 cm.