Agononida indocerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012

Poore, Gary C. B. & Andreakis, Nikos, 2014, More species of the Agononida incerta complex revealed by molecules and morphology (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Munididae), Zootaxa 3860 (3), pp. 201-225 : 210

Agononida indocerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012

( Figs 2 d, 5)

? Munida incerta .— Tirmizi & Javed 1963: 100, figs 43, 44. Munida sp.— Jones & Morgan 1994: 135, fig.

Agononida sp. cf. squamosa.— Jones & Morgan 2002: 135, fig. Agononida sp. aff. incerta .— Poore et al. 2008: 18 (part).

Agononida indocerta Poore & Andreakis, 2012: 19 –21, figs 2H–J, 3D, 10.

Material examined. PAPUA NEW GUINEA. NW of Rabaul, New Britain: 04°14'S, 152°17'E, 508 m (BIOPAPUA stn CP3659), MNHN IU- 2011-1137* (2 males, 1 female). Seamount S of Manus I.: 03°04'S, 147°32'E, 402–640 m (BIOPAPUA stn DW3688), MNHN IU- 2011-1648 (2 females).

Diagnosis. Telson anterolateral margin concave over anterior 70–75%, smooth initially and becoming microtuberculate, with dorsal sharp secondary ridge more obvious in larger specimens; posterior quarter not separated from anterior section by deep notch, with irregular crenellate margin, widest well anterior to transverse suture and narrower adjacent to transverse suture. Pereopods 2–4 with dactyli 5.1–5.8 times as long as greatest basal width; robust setae on flexor margin of dactylus of pereopod 2 number 25–50 (median about 35); of pereopod 3, 6–31 (median about 17); and of pereopod 4, 2–19 (median about 10). Pereopod 4 merus usually with spines proximally on upper face. ( Poore & Andreakis 2012)

Colour. Pattern persists on all material from PNG and is the same as in the Western Australian specimen illustrated by Poore & Andreakis (2012: Fig. 3 D): pereopods 1–4 with a subdistal transverse orange band on the merus and a distal transverse orange band on the carpus; pereopod 1 with a transverse band at the base of the fingers; and pereopods 2–4 propodus with a subdistal transverse band.

Distribution. Western Australia, eastern PNG,?Bay of Bengal; 04°S to 33°S; 390–768 m (median 401 m) depth.

Remarks. The diagnosis is updated to account for more careful observation of the anterolateral margin of the telson. Adult males of A. indocerta are recognisable by the prominent tuberculate posterior lobe on the anterolateral margin of the telson and the concavity of the anterior 70%. The ornamentation is most pronounced in the largest specimens ( Fig. 5 a). In all material the anterolateral margin of the telson bears a secondary submarginal ridge, not illustrated in the earlier description of the type specimens. Agononida indocerta was recovered sister to A. vanuacerta together with A. africerta and A. polycerta within clade A. Species of the latter clade are characterized by proximal facial spines usually found on the merus of pereopod 4. In this species the number of spines varies between individuals and sides of the same individual from zero to four.

The new material extends the range of this species from Western Australia to eastern Papua New Guinea. The counts of robust setae on the dactyli of pereopods 2–4 of five specimens from PNG range widely, 11–26, 4–10, 1–4 respectively, at the lower end of the range given for this species by Poore & Andreakis (2012). The record of Munida incerta in the Bay of Bengal by Tirmizi & Javed (1993) may be of A. indocerta , on the basis of telson shape, and is possible given the range of some species in this complex.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Colour photographs of living animals by T. - Y. Chan unless otherwise noted. a, Agononida africerta, paratype, Mozambique, MNHN IU- 2008 - 10190; b, A. auscerta, PNG, MNHN IU- 2011 - 2426; c, A. incerta, Taiwan (from Baba et al. 2009 and Poore & Andreakis 2012); d, A. indocerta, Western Australia, D. Evans (from Jones & Morgan 2002 and Poore & Andreakis 2012); e, A. madagascerta n. sp., paratype, Madagascar, MNHN IU- 2009 - 1891; f, A. norfocerta, PNG, MNHN IU- 2011 - 891; g, A. polycerta n. sp., French Polynesia, TARASOC stn DW 3377 (specimen not located), L. Corbari; h, A. rubrizonata, paratype, Taiwan (from Poore & Andreakis 2012); i, A. tasmancerta, New South Wales (specimen not located), Image # 741 reproduced from 35 mm slide courtesy of The Neville Coleman Collection.

FIGURE 3. Agononida africerta Telsons and detail of anterolateral margins: a (top row), male, 21 mm, MNHN IU- 2010 - 1158; b, male, 17 mm, MNHN IU- 2008 - 10440; c, ovigerous female, 26 mm, MNHN IU- 2008 - 10441; d, supermale, 31 mm, MNHN- IU- 2008 - 10192. Pereopod 1, upper and lateral views: e, ovigerous female, 26 mm, MNHN IU- 2008 - 10441; f, supermale, 31 mm, MNHN-IU- 2008 - 10192. Line drawings to same scale; chelipeds to same scale.

FIGURE 5. Agononida indocerta. Male, 25 mm, PNG, MNHN IU- 2011 - 1137: a (top row, telson and detail of anterolateral margin); b, merus of pereopod 4 (showing 5 facial spines in proximal third and subdistal colour band). Ovigerous female, 24 mm, paratype, Western Australia, NMV J 57295: c, anterolateral margin of telson: d, pereopod 1, upper and lateral views.