Danalia hapalocarcini, FIZE, 1955

DANALIA HAPALOCARCINI FIZE, 1955 View in CoL

( FIGS 6H–J, 11D)

Danalia hapalocarcini Fize, 1955: 2444–2447 View in CoL , figs. 1–4. – Fize, 1956: 22–28, figs. 15–18. – Altes, 1982: 28–29. – Grygier, 1993: 189–190. – Boyko, 2015: 76, fig. 2H.

Material examined

Malaysia: Mature non-ovigerous female (3.0 mm), mature female (2.9 mm) ( RMNH.Crus.I.7754), on carapace of female Hapalocarcinus marsupialis Stimpson, 1859 (2.9 mm long × 2.8 mm wide) ( RMNH. Crus.D.53703), ex Seriatopora cf. caliendrum Ehrenberg, 1834 ( Pocilloporidae ), Horn Reef, Semporna, 04°14′32″N, 118°26′25″E, 1 December 2010, coll. S. E. T. van der Meij.

Indonesia: Cryptoniscus larva (1.33 mm) ( RMNH. Crus.I.7755), on carapace of female H. marsupialis Stimpson, 1859 (2.6 mm long × 2.6 mm wide) ( RMNH.Crus.D.53189), ex Seriatopora cf. caliendrum Ehrenberg, 1834 ( Pocilloporidae ), Tanjung Sidangolo, Halmahera, 00°53′40″N, 127°29′28″E, 5 November 2009, coll. S. E. T. van der Meij.

New Caledonia: Immature female (0.9 mm) (MNHN-IU-2017-10), on lower left carapace of immature female H. marsupialis Stimpson, 1859 (2.5 mm long × 3.0 mm wide) (MNHN-IU-2009-5733), ex Stylophora sp. ( Pocilloporidae ), New Caledonia, Ilot Maître, Lagoon, 5 m depth, 22°19′48″S, 166°25′06″E, 24 April 1995, coll. P. Castro.

Redescription

Female ( Fig. 6H–J): 3.0 mm long; mature female very broad in dorsal view, body weakly cuticularized, sac like; body moderately recurved, proximal and distal ends rounded; surface without lobes but with irregular folds dorsally, internal segmentation not visible; anteroventral shield small. Trunk short, inserted into body terminally at proximal end; attachment lobes extremely long and slender, covering large portion of ventral surface of host carapace. Directly parasitizing cryptochirid host on ventral surface of carapace.

Remarks

The new records of this species are the first since the species was described based on specimens from Vietnam. The attachment processes are the most elaborately extended of any species in the genus and reach nearly across the entire ventral surface of the host’s carapace, presumably to maximize nutrient absorption. This was the only species of Danalia known to parasitize through the dorsal surface of the carapace of its hosts before the discovery of Danalia vesica sp. nov. (see next subsection). It can be distinguished from D. vesica sp. nov. by the shape of body (sac like but recurved in D. hapalocarcini vs. sac like but disc shaped in D. vesica sp. nov.) and in the length of the attachment processes (long in D. hapalocarcini vs. short in D. vesica sp. nov.).

Known host

Hapalocarcinus marsupialis Stimpson, 1859 View in CoL .

Distribution

Vietnam (type locality) , Malaysia, Indonesia and New Caledonia.