Parastacus saffordi Faxon, 1898

Ribeiro, Felipe Bezerra & Araujo, Paula Beatriz, 2024, Taxonomic review of the genus Parastacus Huxley, 1879 (Decapoda: Astacidea: Parastacidae) with description of five new species, Zootaxa 5455 (1), pp. 1-84 : 30

Parastacus saffordi Faxon, 1898

( Fig. 15–17 )

Parastacus saffordi Faxon, 1898: 683 , pl. 68. — Ortmann 1902: 293.—­ Riek, 1971:134.—­ Buckup and Rossi, 1980:673, figs. 9- 11.21.—­ Hobbs 1989: 80, fig. 368; 1991: 801, fig. 3b.—­ Crandall & De Grave, 2017: 641.—­ Rogers et al. 2020: 876 (key), fig. 23.62B, D.—­ Huber et al. 2022: 276 (key).—­ De los Ríos-Escalante et al. 2022: 1130 (appendix), fig. 1o.—­ Huber et al. 2024: 13 (key).

Type locality. Montevideo ( Uruguay) .

Type material re-examined. Holotype, ♂, Uruguay, Montevideo, mouth of La Plata, coll. W. E. Safford, U. S S. “Vandalia” ( USNM 12581 ) [Photos examined].

Material examined. Brazil, Santa Catarina: one male and one female, Cubatão river , 1960, coll. Rosenberger ( UFRGS 2705 ) ; one male, Siderópolis , 10/XII/2013, coll. C. Feltrin ( UFRGS 6918 ) ; one male, Siderópolis, Reserva do Aguaí , 2014, coll. C. Feltrin ( UFRGS 5862 ) ; two males and one sni, Siderópolis, Reserva do Aguaí , 2014, coll. C. Feltrin ( UFRGS 5863 ) ; two males, Siderópolis, Reserva do Aguaí , 2014, coll. C. Feltrin ( UFRGS 5864 ) ; one male, Siderópolis, Estrada para Jordão Baixo (28°35’31.18”S; 49°30’10.15”W), 10/XII/2013, coll. K.M. Gomes & F.B. Ribeiro ( UFRGS 5875 ) ; one male, Siderópolis, Estrada para Jordão Baixo (28°35’31.18”S; 49°30’10.15”W), 10/XII/2013, coll. K.M. Gomes & F.B. Ribeiro ( UFRGS 5876 ) ; one sni, Siderópolis, Estrada para Jordão Baixo (28°35’31.18”S; 49°30’10.15”W), 10/XII/2013, coll. K.M. Gomes & F.B. Ribeiro ( UFRGS 5877 ) ; one female and one juvenile, Nascente que deságua no Rio São Bento, sub-bacia do Rio Mãe Luzia , Bacia do Araranguá (28°36’53,84”S; 49°33’37,26”W), 20/IX/2019, coll. C. Feltrin ( UFRGS 6917 ) ; Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul: one male, Novo Hamburgo, Lomba Grande, Estrada da Integração , 26/X1985, coll. Guacira & Jackson ( UFRGS 1356 ) .

Uruguay: one male, Montevideo ( MZUSP 251 ); one sni, Maldonado, Barra do Maldonado, II/1975 (FCENUBA w/n) .

Diagnosis and description. Faxon (1898) and Buckup & Rossi (1980).

Remarks. Additional morphological characters not mentioned in previous descriptions include: eyes large ( Fig. 15A, B, C ); front wide ( Fig. 15A, B ); epistome anterolateral section with a sharp conical projection ( Fig. 16A ); antennal scale lateral margin straight ( Fig. 16D ); antennule internal ventral border of basal article with one sharp spine ( Fig. 16A ); mandible with cephalic molar process molariform and caudal molar process bicuspidate or tricuspidate, incisor lobe with ten teeth; the third tooth from the anterior are the largest ( Fig. 16E ); SLP4 smallest and separeted to each other, medial keel present and not inflated; SLP5 separeted to each other, median keel present and not inflated; SLP6 larger than SLP4 and SLP5 with slightly concave dorsal surface, medial keel present and inflated; SLP7 largest and with slightly concave surface, median keel present and slightly inflated; SLP8 smaller than SLP 7, median keel absent, vertical arms of paired sternopleural bridges close to each other in the superior portion, bullar lobes visible and separated to each other ( Fig. 16B, C ); male cuticle partition present. This species resembles P. varicosus in having a long and triangular rostrum, cheliped propodus densely covered by verrucous tubercles, post orbital carinae, and largest lobe of protopod of exopod with one spine and branchiocardic grooves with elevation, but it is distinguishable by the shorter merus and internal margin of cutting edge of finger covered by tufts of setae on the proximal portion.

Distribution. Brazil: states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina; Uruguay: departments of Montevideo and Maldonado ( Ribeiro et al. 2020).

Color of living specimens. Rostrum, cephalothorax anterior and lateral regions, dorsal pleon and tailfan light green, dark green or greenish brown. Pereiopod pairs 2–5 light green ( Fig. 17C–E ).

Habitat and Ecology. Swamps and wetlands away from temporary or permanent water bodies and sometimes in streams near waterfalls, where they can build shallow burrows in the margins ( Fig. 17A, B ). Burrows of P. saffordi can be identified as type 1 a, b according to Horwitz and Richardson’s (1986) classification, and the species can be considered a tertiary burrower based on Hobbs’ (1942) classification ( Ribeiro et al. 2020)

Figures

FIGURE 15. Parastacus saffordi Faxon 1898: A—­ habitus, dorsal view (UFRGS 1356); B—­ cephalon, dorsal view (UFRGS 1356); C—­ cephalon, lateral view (UFRGS 1356); D—­ first to third male pleonal pleura (UFRGS 1356); E—­ tailfan (UFRGS 356). Scale bars: A—­ 10 mm; B, C, D, E—­ 5 mm.

FIGURE 16. Parastacus saffordi Faxon 1898, holotype and paratypes:A—­ epistome (UFRGS 1356); B—­ thoracic sternites and gonopores (UFRGS 1356); C—­ thoracomere 8, caudal view (UFRGS 1366); D—­ antennal scale, lateral view (UFRGS 5875); E—­ mandible (UFRGS 1351); F—­ third maxilliped, ventral view (UFRGS 1356); G—­ third maxilliped, dorsal view (UFRGS 1356); H—­ first pereiopod, lateral view (UFRGS 1356) I—­ first pereiopod dorsal view (UFRGS 1356); J—­ second pereiopod, lateral view (UFRGS 1356). Scale bars: A, C, E, F, G, H, I, J—­ 5 mm; B—­ 10mm; D—­ 1.5 mm.

FIGURE 17. Parastacus saffordi Faxon 1898, habitat and living specimens: A—­ Habitat, rain water fed wetlands in small depressions in the municipality of Siderópolis, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil; B—­ single burrow opening; C–E—­ living specimens. Scale bars: D, E—­ 1 cm.