Ammothella marcusi Hedgpeth, 1948

Ammothella marcusi Hedgpeth, 1948 View in CoL

Figs. 12–13 View FIGURE 12 View FIGURE 13

Ammothella marcusi Hedgpeth, 1948: 247 View in CoL . Child 1982: 358, (literature). Stock 1986: 400. Müller 1990: 278.

Material: 22.— 4 males, 2 fem. (gravid) ( SMF 1120 About SMF ), Halimeda on reef top, 14. IV.1986 . 28.— 1 male ( SMF 1121 About SMF ), under stones, ca. 0.5 m, 4.IV.1986 .

39.— 2 fem. (gravid) ( ZFMK), from stones, 0–0.5 m, 17.III.1986 . 3 legless adults ( ZMA 3352 View Materials ), from stones, mesolittoral, 14.IV.1986 .

Description of male: Trunk relatively compact, in outline almost circular, completely segmented. Cephalon antero-laterally with obtuse tubercle above base of palps. Ocular process relatively low, about 3 times as tall as broad, with pointed tip and darkly pigmented eyes. Crurigers 1–3 each with two pointed spinelike distal outgrowths on antero- and postero-lateral aspects, which almost touch their respective neighbours on adjoining cruriger; cruriger 4 with only one such outgrowth on antero- and postero-lateral aspects. Abdomen erect, 3 times as long as ocular process, with some clavate and simple setae of different lengths.

Proboscis oval, about 3 times as long as diameter.

Cheliphore scape two-articled, its distal article about 1,5 times length of its basal article, both articles tightly covered with clavate setae, mostly on lateral aspect; chela very short and stump-like. Palp 9-articled, 2 nd and 4th articles longest; articles 2 and 3 with single feathered seta, articles 4 and 5 with several feathered setae; articles 6–9 with short simple setae, mainly on ventral surface. Oviger 10-articled; articles 2, 4 and 5 elongated and of near equal length; 7 th article in its distal half with pair of robust spines; articles 8–10 bearing flat spines with serrated edges, largest on tiny terminal article. Legs relatively slender; coxae 1 of all legs with dorso-lateral pair of short, club-shaped setae; coxae 1 with about 2–4 dorso-distal clavate setae, and single simple lateral seta; coxae 1–3 of almost equal length; femur 5 times as long as broad, sparsely beset with clavate and simple setae; short (1/4 of femur diameter) dorso-distal cement gland duct; tibia 1, 1.2 times as long as femur, with ventral row of about 11 clavate setae; tibia 2 slightly shorter than tibia 1, covered by simple setae only. Propodus feebly curved and robust, no heel; basal half of sole armed with 4 robust, distal half with 5 smaller and more slender spines; main claw moderately curved, about half length of propodus; auxiliaries little shorter than main claws.

Measurements: Trunk length 0.68; width 0.70 (across 2 nd crurigers); length of abdomen 0.35; length of proboscis 0.50; length of cheliphores 0.52, leg 4: coxa 1, 0.26; coxa 2, 0.21; coxa 3, 0.23; femur 0.55; tibia 1, 0.77; tibia 2, 0.75; tarsus 0.09; propodus 0.33; main claw 0.14; auxiliary claw 0.11.

Female: In habitus very close to male, but the lateral spiniform tubercle on the lateral processes more feeble. 2 nd article of ovigers in females shortened, 7 th article without the robust pair of spines, 3 flat serrated spines in their place.

Remarks: The species seems most closely related to Ammothella hedgpethi Fage, 1953 from the eastern Atlantic ( Dakar), which resembles it but is somewhat more robust and lacks the lateral spiniform tubercles on the lateral processes (see Fage 1953b: 376).

A. marcusi has been sampled very scarcely, no sound data on preferred substrata or phenology are available.

Distribution: Tropical western Atlantic. All previous records were summarised in Müller (1990d: 278).