En esta nota se informa sobre la presencia del estoma­tópodo Parasquilla ferussaci en las costas de la península ibérica. La documentación está basada en tres especímenes capturados, respectivamente, en Isla Cristina (Huelva) en el Golfo de Cádiz, Fuengirola (Málaga) en el Mar de Alborán y en Gavà (Barcelona) en el Me­diterráneo noroccidental. Se amplia la distribución conocida de la especie completando así el vacío existente hasta el momento entre las citas atlánticas y las del Mediterráneo central. 

Palabras clave: Parasquilla ferussaci, Estomatópodo, Mediterráneo occidental, Golfo de Cádiz.We report the occurrence of the little known stomatopod Parasquilla ferussaci on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of the Iberian peninsula. Documentation is based on three specimens captured off Isla Cristina (Huelva) in the Gulf of Cadiz, off Fuengirola (Málaga) in the Alboran Sea and off Gavà (Barcelona) in the North-Western Mediterranean. These reports fill the distribution gap between Eastern Central Atlantic reports and previous Mediterranean reports east of the Balearic Islands. 

Key words: Parasquilla ferussaci, Stomatopoda, Western Mediterranean, Gulf of Cadiz.En esta nota se informa sobre la presencia del estoma­tópodo Parasquilla ferussaci en las costas de la península ibérica. La documentación está basada en tres especímenes capturados, respectivamente, en Isla Cristina (Huelva) en el Golfo de Cádiz, Fuengirola (Málaga) en el Mar de Alborán y en Gavà (Barcelona) en el Me­diterráneo noroccidental. Se amplia la distribución conocida de la especie completando así el vacío existente hasta el momento entre las citas atlánticas y las del Mediterráneo central. 

Palabras clave: Parasquilla ferussaci, Estomatópodo, Mediterráneo occidental, Golfo de Cádiz

Abelló, Pere

Colmenero, A. I.

Garcia Raso, J. E.

Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

72
Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 7(2009): 72–77 Colmenero et al.
New records of 
Parasquilla ferussaci (Roux, 1830) 
(Crustacea, Stomatopoda) 
from the Eastern Atlantic and 
Western Mediterranean
A. I. Colmenero, J. E. García Raso & P. Abelló
Colmenero, A. I., García Raso, J. E. & Abelló, P., 2009. New records of Parasquilla ferussaci 
(Roux, 1830) (Crustacea, Stomatopoda) from the Eastern Atlantic and Western Mediterra-
nean. Arxius de Miscel·lànea Zoològica, vol. 7: 72–77.
Abstract
New records of Parasquilla ferussaci (Roux, 1830) (Crustacea, Stomatopoda) from the 
Eastern Atlantic and Western Mediterranean.— We report the occurrence of the little known 
stomatopod Parasquilla ferussaci on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of the Iberian 
peninsula. Documentation is based on three specimens captured off Isla Cristina (Huelva) 
in the Gulf of Cadiz, off Fuengirola (Málaga) in the Alboran Sea and off Gavà (Barcelona) 
in the North–Western Mediterranean. These reports fill the distribution gap between Eastern 
Central Atlantic reports and previous Mediterranean reports east of the Balearic Islands.
Key words: Parasquilla ferussaci, Stomatopoda, Western Mediterranean, Gulf of Cadiz.
Resumen
Nuevas citas de Parasquilla ferussaci (Roux, 1830) (Crustacea, Stomatopoda) en el Atlántico 
oriental y Mediterráneo occidental.— En esta nota se informa sobre la presencia del estoma-
tópodo Parasquilla ferussaci en las costas de la península ibérica. La documentación está 
basada en tres especímenes capturados, respectivamente, en Isla Cristina (Huelva) en el 
Golfo de Cádiz, Fuengirola (Málaga) en el Mar de Alborán y en Gavà (Barcelona) en el Me-
diterráneo noroccidental. Se amplia la distribución conocida de la especie completando así el 
vacío existente hasta el momento entre las citas atlánticas y las del Mediterráneo central.
Palabras clave: Parasquilla ferussaci, Estomatópodo, Mediterráneo occidental, Golfo de Cádiz.
(Rebut: 02/03/2009; Acceptació condicional: 29/04/2009; Acceptació definitiva: 20/05/2009)
Ana I. Colmenero & Pere Abelló, Inst. de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Barcelona, Espanya (Spain).– 
J. Enrique García Raso, Dept. Biología Animal, Univ. Málaga, Málaga, España (Spain). Ana I. 
Colmenero: colmenero@cmima.csic.es
© [2009] the authors licensee the journal Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica to publish the paper under a 
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction 
in any medium, provided the original authors and source, the journal AMZ, are cited.
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Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 7(2009): 72–77 Colmenero et al.
New records
Parasquilla ferussaci (Roux, 1830) is one of the two species of the stomatopod family 
Parasquillidae (Manning, 1995; Ahyong, 1997) occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. The 
known distribution of this species comprises the Eastern Central Atlantic from the northern 
shores of the Gulf of Guinea to the Gulf of Cadiz (Monod, 1951; Pérès, 1964; Manning, 
1962, 1977, 1978; Sardá et al., 1982), the Western coasts of the Iberian peninsula along 
the Portuguese coasts (Figueiredo, 1962) in the north, including Madeira islands (Biscoito, 
1985), and the Mediterranean Sea (Froglia & Manning, 1989; Abelló & Guerao, 2004). Its 
usual habitat appears to be the muddy bottoms of the upper continental slope at depths 
comprised between around 175–185 and 700 m (Colloca et al., 2004), but it may also occur 
on the continental shelf (Dounas & Steudel, 1994; Mori & Tunesi, 2001).
Most reports of this species in the Mediterranean Sea refer to the Western coasts of 
the Italian peninsula, from Sicily to Nice (Manning, 1962, 1977; Arena & Greci, 1973; Pi-
pitone & Tumbiolo, 1993; de Ranieri & Mori, 1994; Mori et al., 1998; Mori & Tunesi, 2001; 
Ragonese et al., 2001; Sartor et al., 2003; Innocenti, 2006), but it has also been reported 
from Menorca in the Balearic Islands (Abelló et al., 1994). The occurrence of this species 
in the Eastern Mediterranean has been noted by Dounas & Steudel (1994) off Crete and 
by Özcan et al. (2008) in the Turkish Aegean Sea. 
We herein report the occurrence of Parasquilla ferussaci along the Southern and Eastern 
coasts of the Iberian peninsula, thus filling the distribution gap between the Atlantic and 
central and Eastern Mediterranean records, and  providing an additional record in the Gulf 
of Cadiz (table 1; fig. 1).
A total of twelve stomatopod species have been reported in the Mediterranean Sea: Erythros-
quilla sp., Allosquilla africana (Manning, 1970), Nannosquilloides occultus (Giesbrecht, 1910), 
Platysquilla eusebia (Risso, 1816), Platysquilloides lillyae (Manning, 1977), Parasquilla ferussaci 
(Roux, 1830), Pseudosquillopsis cerisii (Roux, 1828), Erugosquilla massavensis (Kossmann, 
1880), Rissoides desmaresti (Risso, 1816), Rissoides pallidus (Giesbrecht, 1910), Squilla mantis 
(Linnaeus, 1758) and Clorida albolitura Ahyong & Naiyanetr, 2000. The records of Gonodactylus 
chiragra (Fabricius, 1781) and Gonodactylaceaus falcatus (Forsskål, 1775) are not included 
since they are considered doubtful (Lewinsohn & Manning, 1980; Galil et al., 2002).
Of these 12, only Squilla mantis and Erugosquilla massavensis reach marketable den-
sities and constitute a  target for local fisheries (Abelló & Martín, 1993; Maynou et al., 
2005; Sánchez et al., 2007; Galil et al., 2002; Gökoglu et al., 2008). With the exception of 
Rissoides pallidus and, to  a lesser degree, Rissoides desmarestii, both  of which are rather 
commonly captured by trawling (Colloca et al., 2004; Sartor et al., 2003; Abelló et al., 2002), 
most other Mediterranean stomatopods are known from only a few records.
Two of the Mediterranean species entered this sea via the Suez Canal: Erugosquilla 
massavensis, first recorded in the Mediterranean in 1933 and widely spread in the Eastern 
Mediterranean (Galil et al., 2002), and Clorida albolitura, recently reported in the Eastern 
Mediterranean (Ahyong & Galil, 2006). The erythrosquillid Erythrosquilla sp., yet unidentified, 
has been reported based on a postlarval specimen collected from plankton in the Ligurian 
Sea (see Froglia, 1992). 
The present reports of Parasquilla ferussaci are the first for the Mediterranean coast 
of the Iberian peninsula and fill the distribution gap between the Atlantic Ocean and the 
Central Mediterranean populations. The reports of Pseudosquilla ciliata (Fabricius, 1787) by 
Pérès (1964) in the Gulf of Cadiz and off W Morocco actually refer to Parasquilla ferussaci 
(see Manning, 1978).
Little is known about the biology of Parasquilla ferussaci. Mori et al. (1998) studied some 
relative growth features, including its diet, and detected a size at maturity of 20 mm CL, as 
well as some slight sexual dimorphism in raptorial claw size. Parasquilla ferussaci may be con-
sidered an active predator since epibenthic mobile crustaceans constitute most of its prey.
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Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 7(2009): 72–77 Colmenero et al.
Table 1. Sampling and biological characteristics of the specimens of Parasquilla ferussaci 
examined: * Other species (Decapoda) caught in this bottoms were Chlorotocus 
crassicornis (Costa, 1871), Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758), Plesionika edwarsii 
(Brandt, 1851), Solenocera membranacea (Risso, 1816) and Macropipus tuberculatus 
(Roux, 1830).
Tabla 1. Características de muestreo y biológicas de los especímenes de Parasquilla 
ferussaci examinados: * Otras especies (Decapoda) capturadas en estos fondos fueron 
Chlorotocus crassicornis (Costa, 1871), Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758), Plesionika 
edwarsii (Brandt, 1851), Solenocera membranacea (Risso, 1816) and Macropipus 
tuberculatus (Roux, 1830).
          Specimen #1 Specimen #2      Specimen #3
Sex 
    Male                        Male                     Male
Carapace length (excluding rostrum)
 20.0 mm 31.3 mm 27.7 mm 
Date of capture
 28 II 83 12 VII 07 VII 04
Locality
 Off Fuengirola Off Gavà  Off Isla Cristina   
 (Málaga, Spain) (Barcelona, Spain) (Huelva, Spain)
Position  
 Approx.  Approx.  Approx.    
   36º 30' N – 4º 34' W  41º 12’ N – 2º 02’ E  36º 50’ N – 07º 19’ W
Geographic region 
 North Alborán Sea Catalan Sea  Gulf of Cadiz   
 (W Mediterranean) (NW Mediterranean) (E Atlantic Ocean)
Depth of capture
 Unknown 95 m Probably between   
   200–400 m(*)
Type of bottom
 Unknown Terrigenous mud Unknown    
 (probably  (probably    
 muddy bottom)   muddy bottom)
Gear of capture
 Commercial Commercial Commercial   
 demersal trawl demersal trawl demersal trawl
Deposited in
 Biological Collections of Biological Collections of Biological Collections of 
 Reference – Institut de Reference – Institut de Depto. Biología Animal 
 Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Univ. Málaga
Register number
 ICMS_93/2007 ICMS_94/2007 
Observations 
 Specimen identified by  See fig. 2 Specimen identified by 
 J. E. García Raso   J. E. García Raso  
 and F. J. Valladares
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Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 7(2009): 72–77 Colmenero et al.
Fig. 2. Parasquilla ferussaci: male from Gavà 
(Barcelona) (ICMS_94/2007), dorsal view.
Fig. 2. Parasquilla ferussaci: macho de Gavà 
(Barcelona) (ICMS_94/2007), vista dorsal.
Fig. 1. Parasquilla ferussaci: known distribution in the western Mediterranean and 
adjacent Atlantic waters (grey circles: previous reports; black stars: present new 
reports).
Fig. 1. Parasquilla ferussaci: distribución conocida en el Mediterráneo occidental y 
aguas del Atlantico más cercano (círculos grises: citas anteriores; estrellas negras: 
nuevas citas).
76
Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 7(2009): 72–77 Colmenero et al.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the crew of the fishing vessel "Silvia y Beni" from Vilanova i la Geltrú 
and especially its captains, J. Blanco and E. Roca, and  the project "Monitoratge dels 
recursos pesquers i marisquers al litoral català" (Direcció General de Pesca i Afers Ma-
rítims, Generalitat de Catalunya) for making specimen #2 available. We are also grateful 
to F. J. Valladares for identifying specimen #1. Dr. B. Galil provided helpful advice on 
Mediterranean stomatopod faunistics. 
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Nuevas citas de Parasquilla ferussaci (Roux, 1830) (Crustacea, Stomatopoda) en el Atlántico oriental y Mediterráneo occidental

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