Rhynchothorax crenatus Child, 1982

Sabroux, Romain, Hassanin, Alexandre & Corbari, Laure, 2022, Sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) collected during the Madibenthos Expedition from Martinique shallow waters, European Journal of Taxonomy 851 (1), pp. 1-141 : 113-114

Rhynchothorax crenatus Child, 1982

Rhynchothorax crenatus Child, 1982a: 374–376 , fig. 167.

Rhynchothorax crenatus – Child 1996a: 530. — Stock 1986: tab. 1. — Sabroux et al. 2019b: tab. 1, fig. 3.

Type material

Holotype: USNM 170996 (not examined). Type locality: Carrie Bow Cay , Belize.

Material examined

MARTINIQUE • 1 juv.; Le Robert; 14°43.2ʹ N, 60°50.6ʹ W; depth 23 m; 25 Sep. 2016; st. AB405; MNHN-IU-2016-852/ MK411165 .

Remarks

The holotype of Rhynchothorax crenatus is a juvenile (Child 1982). Later, Child (1996a) found adults of R. mediterraneus Costa, 1861 and considered that they were the adult form of R. crenatus . Since there is no clear argument to justify that these two species are conspecific, we prefer to regard R. crenatus as valid for the moment. It is worth noting, however, that the Martinique specimen is also a juvenile, so we cannot refute Child’s hypothesis. DNA barcode sequences will be useful to further investigate this question, when a sufficient sampling of DNA barcoding sequences from R. mediterraneus becomes available. Rhynchothorax mediterraneus is a species mostly known from the Mediterranean, with some records in the Indo-Pacific ( Stock 1974; Miyazaki & Stock 1995) and Brazil (e.g., Stock 1992a), but it has only been recorded in the Caribbean by Child (1996a). Rhynchothorax crenatus is recorded for the first time outside of Belize. The single specimen was collected on the Atlantic coast of Martinique.

Distribution

Only recorded from Belize and Martinique.

Depth range

Recorded in literature at 27 m. The Martinique specimen was found at 23 m.