Microthalestris spinosa ( Fischer, 1860 ) Huys, Rony & Mu, Fanghong, 2021

Huys, Rony & Mu, Fanghong, 2021, Johnwellsia, a new intertidal genus of Parastenheliidae (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) from the Taiwan Strait, China, including a review of the family and key to genera, Zootaxa 5051 (1), pp. 236-318 : 270-272

Microthalestris spinosa ( Fischer, 1860) comb. nov. and M. forficula ( Claus, 1863) comb. nov.

The original descriptions of two species that had previously been designated, validly or invalidly, as a type species ( Sars 1905: 123; Lang 1944: 13), cannot be used as the basis for their identification. Fischer’s (1860) description of Harpacticus spinosus is grossly inadequate and renders the identification of the species indeterminable. Pending the collection of material from Madeira it must be set aside as a species inquirenda in Microthalestris since it does not qualify as a reference for morphological comparison with populations of Microthalestris (or Parastenhelia ) spp. that have subsequently been assigned to it. The various morphs of P. spinosa described by Pesta (1959), Wells & Rao (1987) and Kornev & Chertoprud (2008) as well as Apostolov’s (1968) forma bulgarica are indeterminable (see Table 1 for armature formulae of P1–P5).

The allegedly cosmopolitan distribution of Microthalestris spinosa comb. nov. is a direct result of the inadequacy of the original description and the adoption of Lang’s (1948) excessively broad concept of the species. The great majority of the records below are probably false or indeterminable:

Iceland: Bay of Faxaflói ( Ólafsson et al. 2001); Seltjarnarnes ( Steinarsdóttir et al. 2003); Hvassahraun ( Steinarsdóttir & Ingólfsson 2004).

Norway: Fanafjorden, south of Bergen ( Dommasnes 1969).

Sweden: Øresund ( Dahl 1948); Gullmarfjord ( Lang, 1948); northern Øresund ( Hagerman 1966).

Germany: Kiel Bay ( Klie 1949; Anger & Scheibel 1976).

Scotland: St. Abbs ( Moore 1973, 1974; Hicks 1980); Firth of Forth ( Shiells 1983); Great Cumbrae Island ( Preston & Moore 1988, 1990).

England: Wembury ( Colman 1940) and Plymouth Sound ( Wieser 1952) in Devon; Isles of Scilly ( Wells 1961, 1970); Northumberland ( Moore 1973, 1974).

Wales: Pembrokeshire ( Crothers 1966); Anglesey and Menai Strait ( Geddes 1972); north Wales ( Lintas & Seed 1994); Holyhead Island ( Jarvis & Seed 1996).

Isle of Man ( Moore 1932; Bruce et al. 1963).

France: Bassin d’Arcachon ( Renaud-Debyser 1963a, 1963b); Nord-Finistère (Brittany) ( Le Guellec 1988).

Spain: Canary Islands, Tenerife ( Noodt 1955b); River Ebro estuary ( Sabater 1986).

Portugal: Azores (Chapman 1955; Chapman & Santler 1955).

Italy: Sorrento ( Pesta 1959); Laguna di Lesina ( Ceccherelli & Mistri 1990); Valle Smarlacca, northern Adriatic ( Cristoni et al. 2004).

Montenegro: Budva ( Petkovski 1955).

Romania: Agigea ( Pintea & Klemens 1957; Şerban 1959).

Bulgaria: Gulf of Varna and Sozopol ( Caspers 1951); Sozopol ( Marinov 1974).

Black Sea ( Sergeeva 2003).

Turkey: Datça-Bozburun Peninsulas, Muğla ( Alper 2009; Alper et al. 2010); Dilek Peninsula, Aydın ( Alper et al. 2015); Çatal and Kara Islands of Bodrum ( Yıldız & Karaytuğ 2018).

Israel: Achziv, Caesarea (= Keisarya or Qaysaria) and Palamachim ( Por 1964).

Russia: Kandalaksha Bay, White Sea ( Kornev & Chertoprud 2008); Barents Sea ( Dvoretsky & Dvoretsky 2010); Sea of Okhotsk ( Chertoprud et al. 2015).

Mozambique: Inhaca Island ( Wells 1967).

Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Aberdeen (Port Blair) and Mayabandar ( Wells & Rao 1987); South Andaman ( Jayabarathi 2016 – as P. spinosa spinosa ).

China: South China Sea ( Chertoprud et al. 2009).

Australia: Port Phillip Bay, Victoria ( Walker-Smith 2003).

New Zealand: Island Bay, Wellington ( Coull & Wells 1983); undisclosed locality ( Webber et al. 2010).

Fiji: Moce Island ( Wells 1978).

Bermuda: Baileys Bay and Trunk Island ( Coull 1970b; Coull & Herman 1970).

Tristan da Cunha ( Wiborg 1964).

Canada: Nanaimo Estuary ( Kask et al. 1982); Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia ( Johnson & Scheibling 1986, 1987a, 1987b).

U.S.A.: North Carolina continental shelf ( Coull 1971b); central and northern California ( Watkins 1983); Port Valdez, Prince William Sound ( Cordell 2000; Hines & Ruiz 2001) and Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet ( Ruiz et al. 2006) in Alaska; Puget Sound ( Haas et al. 2002), Elliot Bay ( Toft & Cordell 2006; Toft et al. 2010), Crescent Bay and Freshwater Bay ( Shaffer et al. 2020) in Washington State; recorded on Japanese tsunami-driven marine debris along west coast of North America from Alaska to California ( Carlton et al. 2013, 2017; Cordell 2018; Gillman 2018; Miller et al. 2018).

Brazil: Porto de Galinhas ( Sarmento et al. 2009; Sarmento & Santos 2012a, 2012b; Barroso et al. 2018) and Serrambi, Tamandaré, Rio Doce, Piedade and Paiva ( Barroso et al. 2018) in Pernambuco State; Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro State (Sarmento et al. 2012).

Similarly, Claus’s (1863) description of Thalestris forficula is so inadequate that it is only recognizable as a Microthalestris by a figure of the P1. Although it should be classified as a species of doubtful identity needing further investigation (species inquirenda) and – as a designated type species – will not best serve stability and universality, this does not of itself invalidate Sars’s (1905) type fixation. The following records of Microthalestris forficula are considered indeterminable:

Iceland: Seydisfjord ( Jespersen 1940; Klie 1941 – both as Parastenhelia forficula ).

Faroe Islands: off Suðuroy and between Streymoy and Eysturoy ( Stephensen 1929).

Northern Ireland: Ardglass, Co. Down ( Williams 1954).

Germany: Kiel Bay ( Klie 1929; Kunz 1935).

Scotland: Fairlie and Hunterston in the Firth of Clyde ( Scott 1900 – as Thalestris forficulus ); between Leith and Portobello, Firth of Forth ( Scott 1906).

England: Plymouth region, Devon ( Norman & Scott 1906; Marine Biological Association 1931, 1957).

Isle of Man: Port Erin and Port St Mary ( Fraser (1936).

France: Roscoff, Brittany ( Monard 1935a; Jakubisiak 1936).

Italy: Venice Lagoon ( Grandori 1912, 1914; Pesta (1920).

Tunisia: Cartaghe (Salammbô) ( Monard (1935b – as Parastenhelia forficula ).

U.S.A.: Gulf of Maine (north of Georges Bank) ( Bigelow 1926); Woods Hole ( Wilson 1932b).

Australia: Port Denison, Western Australia ( Nicholls 1945 – as Parastenhelia forficula ).

New Zealand: Otago Harbour ( Brady 1899 – as Thalestris forficula ).