The porcellanid crab, Pisidia brasiliensis (Rodrigues da Costa), reported from the Brazilian coast

as a new species and attributed to Haig by Rodrigues da Costa (1968), is now transferred to the

genus Porcellana Lamarck and a detailed description is provided for the first time

Ferreira, A C

Sankarankutty, C

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I I. mar. biol. Ass. India, 47 (1 )  : 92 - 96, Jan. - June, 2005 NOTE Redesignation of the porcellanid crab Pisidia brasiliensis (Rodrigues da Costa, 1968) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Porcellanidae) C. Sankarankutty and A.C. Ferreira Departamento de Oceanografa e Limnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal R N  - 59014-100, Brazil Abstract The porcellanid crab, Pisidia brasiliensis (Rodrigues da Costa), reported from the Brazilian coast as a new species and attributed to Haig by Rodrigues da Costa (1968), is now transferred to the genus Porcellana Lamarck and a detailed description is provided for the first time. Studies conducted so far from the Car- National Museum of Rio de Janeiro, Bra- ibbean and Brazilian coastal waters have zil (Ref. No. MNRJ 13770). recorded the presence of 43 species of porcellanid crabs (Coelho, 1963-1964, 1967-1969; Coelho et al., 1986; Fausto- Filho, 1978, 1979). Pisidia brasiliensis Rodrigues da Costa, 1968 was first re- ported from the Brazilian coastal waters by Rodrigues da Costa (1968) and the species, though attributed to Haig, was created by him to designate a new species of Pisidia. Coelho (1967-1968), Haig (1968), Gore and Abele (1976), Werding (1977), Veloso and Melo (1993) and Melo (1999) have since then reported the species. How- ever, a detailed description of the svecies is wanting. Based on a large series of ma- terial from our collection, it became clear that the specimens do not present char- acteristics typical of the genus Pisidia Leach, as such should be transferred to the genus Porcellana Lamarck. A detailed description of the species is now provided, designating one of the specimens as a neotype collected from Macau, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil which is deposited in the This study was undertaken with the support of PETROBRAS (Brazilian Petro- leum Co.) during the tenure of fellow- ships from CNPq (National Research Council, Brazil). Part of the study was carried out during the senior author's visit to the Natural History Museum, London (NHM) which was supported by CAPES (Ministry of Education, Brazil) and the British Council. Help from Prof. Dr. L. B. Holthuis, Leiden Museum and Dr. Paul Clark of NHM in resolving the taxonomic riddle is also gratefully acknowledged. Material and methods Several specimens of porcellanid crabs were collected while undertaking a fau- nistic survey of the estuaries near the city of Macau, Galinhos and Guaraira, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. They were all obtained from the sublittoral region, em- ploying an Okelman dredge and a com- mon dredge with a mouth size of 40 x 10 cm and mesh size of 1 mrn. Redesignation of the porcellanid crab 93 Fig. 1. A. Carapace (dorsal view) B. Side view of carapace, showing pteygostomian plate, C. carpus of chela, D. Chela viewd from above - Porcellana brasiliensis The bottom at the place of collection of cheliped without any distinct lobe ...... was covered with seaweeds, broken pieces P. brasiliensis (Costa) of rocks and shells. Proximal inner margin of carpus of ....... Results cheliped wider in the form of a lobe .3 Key to species of Porcellana from Brazil 3- Carapace with pubescence; hiatus (Adapted from Melo, 1999) between fingers with long setae; lobe on inner margin of carpus of cheliped with 1. Lateral margin of carapace with a ............... spiny edge P. platycheles (Pen- narrow and deep cleft at cervical groove nant) .............. P. sinsbeiana A. Milne Edwards " Carapace without pubescence; hiatus Lateral margin of carapace without a between fingers without long setae; lobe cleft ............................................ .2 on inner margin of carpus of cheliped 2. Proximal inner margin of carpus entire .......................... P. sayana (Leach). 94 C. Sankarankutty and A. C. Ferreira Porcellana brasiliensis (Rodrigues da a slightly raised rim; single pterygostomian Costa, 1968) c0m.n. plate (Fig. 1B) with longitudinal striation (Fig. 1 A-D and Fig. 2 A-D) Chelipeds: Surface with irregular dm - pressions, strongly dissimilar with smooth Pisidia brasiliensis, Rodrigues da Costa, segments especially in larger males; sub- 1968, p. 406; Coelho, 1967-1968, p. 233; equal or moderately dissimilar in smaller Werding, 1977, pp. 211-212, Fig. 28; Haig, specimens. 1978, p. 708; Veloso & Melo, 1993, pp. 180-181; Melo, 1999, pp. 258-259. Larger cheliped (Fig. 2 B): Merus with a distinct inner rounded lobe; carpus local it^: Cananeia, Sebastiaof longer than broad with convex Sao Paulo. outer and inner margins, upper surface Material examined: 4 males and 4 fe- males from Macau, collected on February 9, 1998; 4 males, 8 females including 5 ovigerous females from Tibau do Sul on May 18, 1999; 1 male and 6 females in- cluding 4 ovigerous females from Galinhos on October 21, 1999 within the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Measurements: Neotype measures 3.8 mrn in carapace length and 3.7 rnm in width, rest ranged from 1.7 mm to 4.0 mm in carapace length/width; smallest ovigerous female measured 3.0 mrn in carapace length/width. Distribution: From Panama and Car- ibbean waters to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Description: Carapace (Fig. 1 A) as long as broad, with convex lateral borders, mod- erately convex across and in antero-pos- terior axis; surface nude but with stria- tions on lateral region; front tri-lobed with dented border, each lobe triangular and median lobe overreaching lateral; supra- orbital margin moderately convex and serrate; margin behind epibranchial notch without any teeth and nearly smooth; lateral margin distinctly convex and with nearly flat with a faint longitudinal ridge; propodus (including dactylus) in larger males twice as long as carpus, a wide gap between fingers bereft of pubescence; in smaller specimens no gap between fingers and fingers meeting all along their length; dactylus nearly straight except at the tip where slightly bent and with a serrated lobe near base. In smaller males and fe- males distinct transverse striations on merus with distal lobe minutely dentate; carpus distinctly longer than broad with striations on outer margin and two lon- gitudinal grooves and two rows of tu- bercles on upper surface (Fig. 1 C) - one near the middle and. , .  another . ;  near outer margin, inner margin 'dentate; outer sur- face of propodus tuberculated, so also upper surface of dactylus; propodus and dactylus with pubescence on outer mar- gin and on cutting edges. Smaller cheliped (Fig. 2 C): Differs from larger in having thick tuft of long hairs starting from proximal end of propodus till tip of fixed finger, such hairs more numerous near middle and on cut- ting edge of dactylus; a longitudinal groove on upper surface of propodus; dac- Redesignation of the porcellanid crab 95 Fig. 2. A. Third maxilliped. B. Larger cheliped. 'C. Smaller and cheliped a1 D. Walking leg of Porcellana brasiliensis. tylus slightly distorted (Fig. 1 D) distal end on ventral side; dactylus with three spines and dis- tal horny claw. Teslon: With seven plates. Variations: In smaller specimens larger chela also pos- sesses a line of plu- mose setae along the outer margin of propodus, but lacks dense hairs on dac- tylus; density of hairs on smaller chela also varying according to size of animal (such setae confined to outer margin of dac- tylus and not on cut- ting edges of dacty- lus and propodus) - smaller with fewer hairs. Inner margin of carpus of smaller specimens granu- lated and with a dis- tinct longitudinal ridge. Surface of carpus and propodus may also be granulated. Walking legs (Fig. 2 D): Segments with shallow striations and with sparsely dis- Discussion tributed bristly setae and plumose setae Haig (1968) has listed a total of 13 - on all segments; ~ r o ~ o d u s  with a spine at species of the genus Pisidin Leach (7 from 96 C. Sankarankutty and A. C. Ferreira Indo-Pacific, 1 from eastern Pacific, 2 from western Atlantic and 3 from eastern At- lantic). Of the two basic distinguishing features of the genus (presence of teeth or spines behind the epibranchial angle and twisted finger of one or both chelae), Pisidia brasiliensis lacks the spines behind the epibranchial angle in the specimens examined here and in the original de- scription of the species by Rodrigues da Costa (1968). The figures provided by Werding (1977) and Melo (1999) also show absence of this feature. In specimens of moderate size, the twisted nature of fin- gers is not quite evident and only in the larger specimens such distortion can be seen in the smaller chela. Based on these findings, P. brasiliensis should be assigned to the genus Porcellana Lamarck and in the absence of a designated holotype, a male specimen collected from Macau is now designated as a neotype of P. brasiliensis (Rodrigues da Costa, 1968) References Coelho, P.A. 1963-1964. Trabs. Oceaongr. Univ. Fed. Pernambuco, 516: 51-68. , 1967-1969. ibid. 9/11: 223-238. , M. Ramos-Porto and T.C.S. Calado. 1986. Cad. Omega Univ. Fed. Rural Pernambuco, Ser. Cienc. Aquat., 2: 79-105. Fausto-Filho, J. 1978. Arq. Cien. Mar., 18: (1/2): 63- 71. , 1979. ibid.19 (1/2): 45-56. Gore, R.H. and L.G. Abele. 1976. Smiths. Contr. Zool., 237: 1-130. Haig, J. 1968. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 91 (3): 706-714. Melo, G.A.S. 1999. Manual de identificacao dos Crus- tacea Decapoda do liforal brasileiro: Anomura, Thalassinidea, Palinuuidea, Astacidea. Sao Paulo: Pleiade/FAPESP. 551 pp. Rodrigues da Costa, 1968. Anais Acad. Bras. Cienc., 40 (3): 405-406. Veloso, V.G. and G.A.S. Melo. 1993. Iheringia. Ser. Zool., 75: 171-186. Werding, B. 1977. An.  Inst. Inv. Mar. Punta Betin, 9: 173-214. 

Redesignation of the porcellanid crab Pisidia brasiliensis (Rodrigues da Costa, 1968) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Porcellanidae)

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Redesignation of the porcellanid crab Pisidia brasiliensis (Rodrigues da Costa, 1968) (Crustacea: Decapoda: Porcellanidae)

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