Cabirnalia nausicaa, Boyko & Van Der Meij, 2018

CABIRNALIA NAUSICAA View in CoL SP. NOV.

( FIGS 8, 12C–F)

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:27FFC15A-5D05-41F4-A6B3-B26FCC86DBF0

Type material

New Caledonia: Mature holotype female (14.1 mm) (MNHN-IU-2017-11), two immature paratype females (1.6 mm each) (MNHN-IU-2017-12), ex abdomen of female H. marsupialis Stimpson, 1859 (4.0 mm long × 4.0 mm wide) (MNHN-IU-2009–5735), ex Pocillopora sp. ( Pocilloporidae ), New Caledonia, lagoon, Passe de Boulari, 10–20 m depth, 22°29′54″S, 166°26′33″E, 28 April 1995, coll. P. Castro.

Malaysia: Three mature paratype females (5.0, 5.5 and 6.3 mm), paratype cryptoniscus larva (1.3 mm) (RMNH.Crus.I.7757), ex posterior pereopods (females) and abdomen (larva) of female L. helleri ( Fize & Serène, 1957) (4.2 mm long × 2.7 mm wide) (RMNH. Crus.D.53737), ex Favites cf. halicora ( Ehrenberg, 1834) ( Merulinidae ), Batura Reef, Semporna, 04°30′49″N, 118°48′31″E, 7 December 2010, coll. S. E. T. van der Meij.

Japan: Mature female (4.8 mm long × 3.5 mm wide) (RMNH.Crus.I.7758), inserted ventromedially between second and third sternites of female Lithoscaptus sp. 2 (B) (RMNH.Crus.D.57236), ex P. versipora ( Scleractinia incertae sedis), Mizugama, Okinawa, 26°21′35″N, 127°44′18″E, 15 April 2016, coll. S. E. T. van der Meij.

Other material

Thailand: Immature female (2.2 mm), ex third pereopod of male L. paradoxus A. Milne-Edwards, 1862 , 1862 (2.5 mm long × 1.5 mm wide) (ZRC 2016.0435), ex unknown coral, coral reef, Phuket, December 1998, coll. P. K. L. Ng; immature female (1.6 mm), ex abdomen of female L. paradoxus A. Milne-Edwards, 1862 (4.8 mm long × 3.3 mm wide) (ZRC 2016.0443), ex unknown coral, Ao Thang Khen, Phuket, May 2000, coll. P. K. L. Ng & K. L. Yeo.

Description

Mature female ( Fig. 8): 4.8–14.1 mm long; strongly recurved, circular in outline (viewed laterally); body robust, strongly convex dorsal margin without lobes but with cuticular indentations indicating segmentation; body with slight ventral indentation; ventral sides meeting medially, with several small, plate-like areas demarcated at midpoint. Attachment trunk short, with single attachment lobe, medially divided and expanded into two broad sections. Directly parasitizing cryptochirid hosts on ventral surface of abdomen, on posterior pereopods, or on sternites.

Etymology

The species is named after the main character in the film 風の谷のナウシカ ( Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) by Hayao Miyazaki (Toei 1984), because the attachment processes greatly resembles the gas mask worn by Nausicaä when entering the Toxic Jungle.

Remarks

See under Remarks for the genus. Note that this parasite can grow to be larger than its host (e.g. RMNH.Crus.I.7758, from Okinawa), and this would seem to limit the mobility of the host; however, gall crabs, particularly females, probably do not move outside their dwellings.The non-type material is provisionally assigned to this species. The smaller specimen from Thailand is a non-descript sac, with an attachment stalk somewhat resembling that of D. cervix sp. nov. from the Atlantic, but the larger specimen, which is still immature, was partly moulted and shows a smooth outer cuticle covering a segmented inner cuticle. This pattern of metamorphosis from smooth to segmented sac is also seen in species of Cabirops (see Reverberi & Catalano, 1963), but Cabirops species lack attachment stalks.

Known hosts

Hapalocarcinus marsupialis Stimpson, 1859 View in CoL (type host), L. helleri ( Fize & Serène, 1957) View in CoL , Lithoscaptus sp. 2 (B); probably also on L. paradoxus A. Milne-Edwards, 1862 View in CoL .

Distribution

Known from New Caledonia (type locality) , Malaysia and Japan; probably also from Thailand.

CIRRIPEDIA BURMEISTER, 1834

RHIZOCEPHALA MÜLLER, 1862

SACCULINIDAE LILLJEBORG, 1861 View in CoL