Heterosquilloides insignis ( Kemp, 1911 )

Heterosquilloides insignis ( Kemp, 1911)

Lysiosquilla insignis Kemp, 1911: 94–95 [ type locality off north Andaman Island]; 1913: 4, 11, 111, 126–128, pl. 9: figs. 99–102.— Barnard 1950: 859, fig. 3c.

Heterosquilla (Heterosquilloides) insignis .— Holthuis, 1967a: 13.

Heterosquilla (Heterosquilloides) insolita .— Manning, 1969b: 58, 60 (Galapagos Island specimen only, not H. insolita Manning, 1963a ).

Heterosquilla (Heterosquilloides) zarenkovi Makarov, 1978: 179 , fig. 2 [ type locality Tonkin Bay , Vietnam].

Heterosquilloides insignis .— Moosa, 1986: 386, pl. 1: fig. c.— Manning, 1991: 6; 1995: 22, 124.—Ahyong, 2001: 175–176, fig. 87; 2002b: 830–832, fig. 1; 2021a: 102–103, fig. 1B.

Material examined. No material available for study.

Previously reported South African material. KZN: ZMUC-CRU-20557, 1 ♂ (TL 42 mm), off Durban, South Africa, 29°55’00.0”S 30°20’00.0”E, 445–460 m, stat. 196, sandy mud, 13–14 Feb 1951, Galathea , deposited in Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, source Manning (1991); 1 ♂, north of Durban, 274 m, source Barnard (1950).

Diagnosis (after Ahyong 2001). Eye with cornea strongly bilobed. Ocular scales fused. A2 protopod with 2 ventral papillae. Rostral plate longer than broad; broadest at base. Raptorial claw dactylus with 7 or 8 teeth. Pereopods 1–2 basal segment with inner and outer, ventrally directed spine. Pereopod 3 basal segment with outer spine only. TS6 lateral process quadrate. AS 1–5 without posterior spinules; AS (3)4–5 each with short posterolateral spine. AS 6 with low IM and LT carinae, armed posteriorly; posterior margin unarmed. Telson with 5–6 SM denticles either side of midline forming inverted ‘V’ in posterior view. Dorsal surface median elevation laterally with 3–4 rows of irregular carinae or tubercles; upper posterior margin laterally with 1 acute, triangular spine and 1 short, triangular or rounded lobe. Uropodal exopod proximal segment outer margin with 6 movable spines.

Colour in alcohol. Colour in life shown by Ahyong (2021: fig. 1B, C).

Measurements. ♂ (n = 1) TL 42 mm. Ahyong (2002b) reported the largest known specimen at TL 94 mm.

Distribution and habitat. Widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific, from South Africa and Madagascar to Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Central Pacific, Hawaii, French Polynesia, eastern Pacific and Galapagos at depths below 100 m. The South African specimens were collected at 274–460 m on sandy and muddy substrates. A depth range of 275–510 m has been previously recorded in southern African waters ( Manning 1991). Most recently, Ahyong (2021a) recorded the species from Indonesia at 528– 637 m.

Remarks. Heterosquilloides insignis is one of three deep water species collected off the coast of South Africa. No specimen was available for examination in the Iziko collection. However, two specimens of H. insignis are known from South African waters ( Barnard 1950; Manning 1991), both from localities surrounding Durban. While Manning’s specimen is housed at the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen ( Manning 1991), Barnard’s specimen could not be found in the Iziko collection. In his account of the species from Australia, Ahyong (2001) remarks on the similarity in rostral plate morphology to the South African specimen illustrated by Manning (1991). Both South African and Australian specimens have convex margins of the rostral plate, rather than the straight margins illustrated by Kemp (1911) for the holotype and some specimens collected from Hawaii ( Ahyong 2002b). Furthermore, Barnard (1950) describes the rostral plate as bearing ‘feebly sinuous margins’, which agrees with Ahyong’s (2001) observation.

SQUILLOIDEA Latreille, 1802

Diagnosis. Cornea with 2 rows of hexagonal mid-band ommatidia. MXP3–4 with propodi ovate, neither ribbed nor beaded ventrally. Body depressed, articulation compact. Raptorial claw with terminal ischiomeral articulation; dactylus not inflated basally. Telson with distinct MD carina; SM teeth with movable or fixed apices, other primary teeth with fixed apices; with 4 or more submedian denticles. Uropodal protopod with at most two primary spines; articulation of exopod segments terminal.

Composition. Squillidae Latreille, 1802 .

Remarks. Only a single family, Squillidae , is included in this superfamily.

SQUILLIDAE Latreille, 1802

Diagnosis. See superfamily. Composition. Alima Leach, 1817 ; Alimopsis Manning, 1977b ; Alimopsoides Moosa, 1991 ; Anchisquilla Manning, 1968b ; Anchisquilloides Manning, 1977b ; Anchisquillopsis Moosa, 1986 ; Areosquilla Manning, 1976 ; Belosquilla Ahyong, 2001 ; Busquilla Manning, 1978a ; Carinosquilla Manning, 1968b ; Clorida Eydoux & Souleyet, 1842 ; Cloridina Manning, 1995 ; Cloridopsis Manning, 1968b ; Crenatosquilla Manning, 1984b ; Dictyosquilla Manning, 1968b ; Distosquilla Manning, 1977b ; Erugosquilla Manning, 1995 ; Fallosquilla Manning, 1995 ; Fennerosquilla Manning & Camp, 1983 ; Gibbesia Manning & Heard, 1997 ; Harpiosquilla Holthuis, 1964 ; Humesosquilla Manning & Camp, 2001 ; Kaisquilla Ahyong, 2002a ; Kempella Low & Ahyong, 2010 ; Lenisquilla Manning, 1977b ; Leptosquilla Miers, 1880 ; Levisquilla Manning, 1977b ; Lophosquilla Manning, 1968b ; Meiosquilla Manning, 1968b ; Michalisquilla Van Der Wal & Ahyong, 2017 ; Miyakella Ahyong & Low, 2013 ; Natosquilla Manning, 1978c ; Neclorida Manning, 1995 ; Neoanchisquilla Moosa, 1991 ; Oratosquilla Manning, 1968b ; Oratosquillina Manning, 1995 ; Paralimopsis Moosa, 1991 ; Parvisquilla Manning, 1973 ; Pontiosquilla Manning, 1995 ; Pterygosquilla Hilgendorf, 1890 ; Quollastria Ahyong, 2001 ; Rissoides Manning & Lewinsohn, 1982 ; Schmittius Manning, 1972b ; Squilla Fabricius, 1787 ; Squilloides Manning, 1968b ; Triasquilla Ahyong, 2013 ; Tuleariosquilla Manning, 1978a ; Visaya Ahyong, 2004 ; Vossquilla Van Der Wal & Ahyong, 2017 .

Remarks. Squillidae is the most diverse family of Stomatopoda , with 48 known species globally. Eight genera are present in South African waters represented by 10 accepted species and one undescribed species of Clorida . Two additional species, Alima neptuni ( Linnaeus, 1768) and Lenisquilla lata ( Brooks, 1886) , have previously been misrepresented to be present in South African waters, although there is a high probability of their occurrence, as both species are reported from southern Mozambique ( Manning 1969a). Two other species, Leptosquilla schmeltzii and Erugosquilla woodmasoni , have recently been added as new records for Mozambique (Brokensha et al. 2023), but neither of these have yet been found in South Africa. These four genera are included in the key below.