A new species of Anoplodactylus (Pycnogonida: Phoxichilidiidae) from Brazil, with a case of gynandromorphism in Anoplodactylus eroticus Stock, 1968

Abstract

A new species of Anoplodactylus was discovered in coral reefs from the State of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. A. mirim sp. nov. is very small and is characterized for having 3 teeth on the cheliphores and a very small cement gland. It belongs to the A. pygmaeus complex, which contains very small species. A. batangensis is recorded for the first time along the Brazilian coast, and A. eroticus is recorded for the first time in the South Atlantic. We record the fifth known case of gynandromorphism, the fourth for Anoplodactylus, based on two specimens of A. eroticus.

First record of a sea spider (Pycnogonida) from an anchialine habitat

“…It is considered a pantropical species in coastal waters at shallow depths (Bourdillon, 1955;Bamber, 2007), and a frequently reported species from Colombia (Müller & Krapp, 2009), Brazil (Lucena et al, 2015) and Mexico (Child, 1992;Munilla, 2002).…”

Inventory of mollusks from the estuary of the Paraíba River in northeastern Brazil

“…The biodiversity of marine invertebrates (mainly mollusks and polychaetes) in this coastal area has been increasingly studied (Duarte et al 2014, Santos et al 2010, Lomônaco et al 2011, De Assis et al 2012, Brito et al 2013, Fukuda et al 2013, Lima et al 2014, Prata et al 2014, Lucena et al 2015, Lima & Christoffersen 2016, 2016, however, the mollusk diversity of large areas, such as basin of the Paraiba River remains unknown.…”

Anoplodactylus (Pycnogonida: Phoxichilidiidae)from Brazil, new records and two new species

“…Given the large morphological variations and high number of described species, taxonomic groups were proposed on the basis of species distributions and morphological characters (Arango and Krapp, 2007). A series of species-complexes were recognized: A. pygmaeus (Stock, 1974), A. insignis (Stock, 1974), A. robustus (Stock, 1979), A. gestiens (Nakamura and Child, 1991), A. californicus-digitatus (Arango and Maxmen, 2006), A. tenuicorpus (Arango and Krapp, 2007), and A. angulatus (Krapp et al, 2008;Lucena et al, 2015).…”

“…Remarks: Easily recognized by the shape of the proboscis (styliform and directed upwards) and by the structure of the cement gland (formed by transversal rings) (Child, 1996;Müller and Krapp, 2009). The first record for Brazil was given by Lucena et al (2015), for the States of Pernambuco and Paraíba. Subsequently it was recorded for the coast of Bahia , which is the most southern occurrence in the southern Atlantic.…”

“…Distribution: Brazil (Alagoas, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Piauí, and Maranhão), India, USA (Hawaii) (Stock, 1968;Arango and Maxmen, 2006;Lucena et al, 2015).…”