Talitrus cloquetii ( Audouin, 1826 )

Lowry, J. K. & Myers, A. A., 2019, Talitrus saltator (Montagu, 1808), a species complex (Amphipoda, Senticaudata Talitroidea, Talitridae), Zootaxa 4664 (4), pp. 451-480 : 453-456

Talitrus cloquetii ( Audouin, 1826)

( Figs 2A , 4–6 )

Orchestia cloquetii Audouin, 1826: 93 , pl. 11, fig. 9.— Spence Bate, 1862: 22, pl. 4, fig. 1 (very inaccurate copy fide Stebbing 1906).—? Della Valle, 1893: 509.

Talitrus cloquetii .—H. Milne Edwards, 1830: 13 (key), 364.— Brandt, 1851: 135, 137, 138.— Stebbing, 1906: 526.

Thalitrus cloquetii .— Guérin-Méneville, 1836: 3.

Type material. Male neotype, 13 mm, NHMUK 2018.1538, beach in front of Hellenic Center for Marine Research, Gournes, Crete (35°20.039’N 25°16.900’E), J.K. Lowry, L. Fanini and R. Lowry, 5 June 2017. One female, same data as holotype.

Other material examined. 1 male, 1 female, Cesaraea, Israel, E. Gottlieb, MCV .

Type locality. Beach in front of Hellenic Center for Marine Research , Gournes , Crete (35°20.039’N 25°16.900’E) .

Diagnosis (male). Antenna 1 peduncular articles 2 and 3 short, each about 2 × as long as broad. Antenna 2 slightly incrassate. Gnathopod 1 merus posterior margin unexpanded; carpus:propodus length ratio = 1:0.7; dactylus long, more than one third length of propodus. Pereopod 6 basis expanded, posterior margin sub-straight. Pereopod 7 basis expanded, posterior margin flattened; propodus 7 × as long as broad; dactylus elongate and slender. Uropods short. Uropod 1 rami shorter than peduncle (1:0.7); endopod slightly longer than exopod; Uro- pod 2 rami subequal with each other and subequal with peduncle. Uropod 3 peduncle almost as broad as long; ramus short, broad, not markedly tapering distally, with 4-5 marginal setae.

Description of neotype. Male, 13 mm.

Head. Eyes round, medium size. Antenna 1 short, reaching end of antenna 2 article 4; peduncular articles 2 and 3 about one and a half times as long as broad; flagellum with 5 articles. Antenna 2 semi-incrassate, article 5 about 5 × as long as broad; flagellum longer than peduncular article 5, with 22 articles. Maxilla 1 inner plate slender with 2 terminal setae. Maxilla 2 without oblique setal row. Maxilliped palp article 4 fused with article 3.

Pereon. Gnathopod 1 coxa subtriangular; basis stout, anterior margin straight; merus unexpanded; carpus stout, parallel-sided; propodus a little over half length of carpus; dactylus long, more than one third length of propodus; all articles without palmate setae. Gnathopod 2 mitten-shaped; basis sub-ovoid; carpus longer than propodus; posterior margin of propodus with lobe covered in palmate setae; propodus palm obtuse; dactylus short, distally acute, shorter than posterior margin of propodus. Pereopods 3–7 bicuspidactylate. Pereopod 4 dactylus thickened proximally with notch midway along posterior margin. Pereopod 5 short, less than 2/3 length of pereopod 6; basis with large posterior lobe. Pereopod 6 subequal in length with pereopod 7; basis with margin of posterior lobe flattened Pereopod 7 basis with margin of posterior lobe flattened; propodus 7 × as long as broad.

Pleon. Epimeron 3 posterior margin weakly scalloped. Uropod 1 rami shorter than peduncle (1:0.7); endopod slightly longer than exopod; Uropod 2 rami subequal with each other and subequal with peduncle. Uropod 3 peduncle almost as broad as long; ramus short, broad, not markedly tapering distally, with 4-5 marginal setae. Telson with 9–10 setae per lobe.

Female (sexually dimorphic characters). Not significantly different from male.

Remarks. We have searched unsuccessfully for the types of Orchestia cloquetii in the most reasonable repository, the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. All of Audouin’s invertebrate material from Savigny’s collections from Egypt is apparently lost (Paula Martin-Lefèvre pers. com.). Given the ambiguity in the identity of T. cloquetii as a result of the present study, we establish a neotype from Crete (NHMUK 2018.1538) for this species in order to stabilize the identity of the species. We have also examined specimens from Israel that fit Talitrus cloquetii as understood here and we regard the species as having a wide distribution in the south-eastern Mediterranean. The neotype locality is not very near to the original type locality ( Egypt), but it is in the same geographic area and occurs sympatrically with Deshayesorchestia deshayesii ( Audouin, 1826) described from the same original locality.

Talitrus cloquetii has elongate pereopods 6–7 (short in T. saltator ) and short uropods (long in T. platycheles ). Pereopod 7 basis posterior margin is flattened (convex in both T. saltator and T. platycheles ).

Distribution. The known distribution of T. cloquetii in the Mediterranean is incomplete (fig. 1). De Matthaeis et al. 1998 recorded a genetically distinct population of Talitrus from Kos and Tilos in the southern Aegean Sea that we interpret as almost certainly being T. cloquetii . It is known from Crete and Karpathos in the Sea of Crete. There are no reports of Talitrus along the southern Turkish coast or from the coasts of Syria or Lebanon. It is then known from Israel (this paper) and the Nile Delta, Egypt (Audouin 1829).

Southern Aegean Sea (Crete, Karpathos) and Levantine Sea ( Israel, Egypt).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Talitrus cloquetii Audouin, Gournes, Crete; B. Talitrus platycheles Guérin, Cagliari, Italy; C. Talitrus saltator Montagu, Ringabella Bay, Cork, Ireland.

FIGURE 4. Talitrus cloquetii Audouin, male neotype, 13 mm, Gournes, Crete.

FIGURE 5. Talitrus cloquetii Audouin, male neotype, 13 mm, female, 12 mm, Gournes, Crete.

FIGURE 6. Talitrus cloquetii Audouin, male neotype, 13 mm, Gournes, Crete.