Upogebia octoceras Nobili, 1904

Al-Kandari, Manal, Anker, Arthur, Hussain, Sumaiah, Al-Yassen, Sharifa, Sattari, Zainab & Grave, Sammy De, 2020, New records of decapod crustaceans from Kuwait (Malacostraca: Decapoda), Zootaxa 4803 (2), pp. 251-280 : 267

Upogebia octoceras Nobili, 1904

( Fig. 11 )

Upogebia (Gebiopsis) octoceras Nobili, 1904: 236 ; Nobili 1906a: 98.

Upogebia octoceras . — Ngoc-Ho 1990: 982, fig. 9.

Upogebia (Calliadne) hexaceras . — Nobili 1906b: 60 [not U. hexaceras ( Ortmann, 1894) ].

Upogebia darwinii .— Sakai 2006: 101, figs. 15–17 (part.); (?) Sepahvand et al. 2013: 6; (?) Naderloo & Türkay 2012: 19 [not U. darwinii ( Miers, 1884) ].

Material examined. Kuwait: 1 male, 3 females, OUMNH. ZC. 2020.01.035, Failaka Island , eastern side, intertidal, in sponges, leg. A. Zhadan et al., 01.xii.2019 ; 1 male, 1 female, MNHN-IU-2019-3218, Failaka Island , eastern side, intertidal, in hard yellow sponge (piece of host preserved in ethanol), leg. A. Anker et al., 12.ii.2020 [fcn FA-008].

General distribution. Indo-West Pacific, ranging from East Africa, Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf to Thailand, Indonesia and Australia ( Ngoc-Ho 1990; Sakai 2006; Sepahvand et al. 2013).

Ecology. Lower intertidal and shallow subtidal; associated with sponges, including a “hard-on-touch” yellow sponge, which is fairly common on lower rocky intertidal shores of Failaka Island in Kuwait ( Fig. 12D ).

Remarks. Ngoc-Ho (1990) revised a small group of species allied to U. darwinii ( Miers, 1884) , recognising U. hexaceras ( Ortmann, 1894) and U. octoceras as two species distinct from U. darwinii . However, Sakai (1993, 2006) considered both U. hexaceras and U. octoceras as junior synonyms of U. darwinii , providing a lengthy discussion on the invalid status of these two taxa in his second study. Ngoc-Ho (2008) did not agree with Sakai’s (2006) opinion and treated U. hexaceras as a valid species, without commenting specificially on the status of U. octoceras . All subsequent records of a sponge-dwelling species from the U. darwinii species complex from the Arabian Gulf were listed under U. darwinii (e.g. Naderloo & Türkay 2012; Sepahvand et al. 2013). However, a recent reassessment of U. hexaceras by Komai et al. (2020) showed that it is indeed different from U. darwinii . The Kuwaiti specimens ( Fig. 11 ) match U. octoceras , as redefined by Ngoc-Ho (1990), in most morphological characteristics (cf. Ngoc-Ho 1990: table 3). Therefore, we tentatively follow Ngoc-Ho’s (1990) taxonomy, recognising U. octoceras as distinct from U. darwinii , although we feel that a molecular study of the U. darwinii species complex is needed to further clarify or confirm the taxonomic status of U. hexaceras and U. octoceras .

Figures

FIGURE 11. Upogebia octoceras Nobili, 1904: A—female from Failaka Island, Kuwait (MNHN-IU-2019-3218), dorsal view; B—same, lateral view; C—same, sixth pleonite and tail fan, dorsal view; D—male from the same locality, mate of previous female (MNHN-IU-2019-3218), dorsal view, with partly opened host sponge. Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 12. Balsscallichirus masoomi (Tirmizi, 1970): A—female from Failaka Island, Kuwait (OUMNH.ZC. 2020.01.036), dorsal view; B—same, lateral view; C—same, major cheliped (detached), lateral view; D—same, sixth pleonite and tail fan, dorsal view. Photographs by A. Anker.