Alphasarsiella anax Kornicker 1995

Alphasarsiella anax

ETYMOLOGY.—From the Greek anax (lord, master, king).

HOLOTYPE.—Ovigerous female on slide and in alcohol in the collection of the Museum of Victoria.

TYPE LOCALITY.—Slope 22, 37°0.60′S, 150°20.70′E, New South Wales, off Eden, depth 363 m.

PARATYPES.—None.

DISTRIBUTION.—Slope 22, 363 m.

DESCRIPTION OF ADULT FEMALE (Figure 53).—Carapace similar in shape to that of A. altrix (Figure 53a).

Ornamentation: Carapace with 2 ribs extending anteriorly from vicinity of central adductor muscle attachments and several additional less well-defined ribs (Figure 53a). Surface with pointed spines, but also with abundant spines with blunt and globose tips along margins and ribs (Figure 53b).

Infold: Anterior infold with small bristle near inner margin ventral to incisur. Infold of caudal process with a few small bristles along inner edge of infold, and row of 9 broad spinous bristles along list (row extends from dorsal to ventral edge of caudal process (Figure 53d) (right valve of holotype interpreted to be aberrant in having 3 bristles, an empty socket of additional bristle, and 3 stumps in place of bristles).

Central Adductor Muscle Attachments (Figure 53c): Comprising about 21 attachments.

Carapace Size (mm): Holotype, length including caudal process 0.92, length excluding caudal process 0.85, height 0.72.

First Antenna, Second Antenna, Mandible (Figure 53e), Maxilla, Fifth Limb, Sixth Limb, Seventh Limb, Furca (Figure 53f), and Bellonci Organ (Figure 53g): Similar to those of A. altrix.

Eyes: Lateral eyes absent. Medial eye with brown pigment and several light amber-colored cells (Figure 53g).

Upper Lip (Figure 53h), Genitalia (Figure 53f), Anterior of Body (Figure 53e,h), Posterior of Body (Figure 53h), and Y-Sclerite (Figure 53f): Similar to those of A. altrix.

Number of Eggs: Holotype with small unextruded eggs and 2 eggs in marsupium (1 shown in place in Figure 53a); lengths of 2 extruded eggs 0.27 mm, 0.29 mm; length of 1 unextruded egg 0.17 mm.

Gut Content: Holotype with worm fragments in gut.

COMPARISONS.—Alphasarsiella anax is very close to A. altrix. The carapaces differ in that all surface spines on A. altrix are pointed, whereas, many along the margins and ridges of A. anax have blunt or globose tips. The medial eye of A. altrix is unpigmented, whereas, that of A. anax has brown pigment; however, that could be the result of differential preservation.

Egg Size

Kornicker (1975:49, figs. 25–28; 1981:35, fig. 6; 1986:174, fig. 112) presented data indicating that clutch size is, in part, a function of carapace size in the families Cypridinidae, Philomedidae, Cylindrolebrididae, and Sarsiellidae. In the present study one or more eggs in the marsupium were measured. Some eggs are spherical whereas others are elliptical; for the latter shape the greatest length was measured. Eggs probably become more elliptical and larger with brooding development time. The eggs have an outer membrane which on some eggs is separated by a space from the amber-colored dense central part. The length of some eggs with and without the separated membrane are given in the text, but the length with the membrane is used in Appendix 2. According to Cohen (1983:244) the membrane around eggs of Skogsbergia lerneri (Kornicker, 1958) is discarded immediately after the embryo is released from the marsupium. The term egg is used herein without regard for degree of development, but it may be mentioned in the text. The size of eggs is, in part, a function of carapace size in the Cypridinidae (Figure 54a), and probably also in the Cylindroleberididae (Figure 54b) and Sarsiellinae (Figure 54d), and possibly in the Philomedidae (Figure 54c), but additional data are necessary to establish the trends. Insufficient data are available to approximate a trend in the Rutidermatidae (Figure 54e). Trend lines in Figure 54 are drawn by eye.

Appendix 1

Station Data with Species in Samples

(All samples taken aboard ORV Franklin with WHOI epibenthic sled by Gary C.B. Poore et al.)

Slope 1: New South Wales off Nowra (34°59.52′S, 151 °5.94?), 204 m, coarse shell, 14 Jul 1986.

Harbansus vatrax; H. felix; Spinacopia crux; S. sandix; S. trox.

Slope 6: New South Wales off Nowra (34°51.90′S, 151°12.60′E), 770 m, crinoid dominated, 15 Jul 1986.

Igene illex.

Slope 19: New South Wales off Eden (37°07.30′S, 150°20.20′E), 520 m, grey coarse shell, 20 Jul 1986.

Cymbicopia climax; Neomuelleriella klomax.

Slope 21: New South Wales off Eden (36°57.40′S, 150°18.80′E,) 220 m, muddy shell, 20 Jul 1986.

Euphilomedes ernyx.

Slope 22: New South Wales off Eden (37°0.60′S, 150°20.70′E), 363 m, coarse shell, 21 Jul 1986.

Harbansus vortex; Spinacopia illex; S. sandix; Cymbicopia cervix; C. climax; Neomuelleriella nex; Alphasarsiella anax.

Slope 25: Victoria S of Point Hicks (38°25.90′S, 148°58.60′E), 1850 m, muddy, sandstone, 22 Jul 1986.

Spinacopia rex.

Slope 27: Victoria S of Point Hicks (38°25.00′S, 149°0.00′E), 1500 m, compacted clay, 22 Jul 1986.

Spinacopia rex.

Slope 32: Victoria S of Point Hicks (38°21.90′S, 149°20.00′E), 1000 m, 23 Jul 1986.

Spinacopia rex.

Slope 39: Victoria S of Point Hicks (38°19.10′S, 149°14.30′E), 600 m, coarse sand, 24 Jul 1986.

Scleroconcha solox.

Slope 40: Victoria S of Point Hicks (38°17.70′S, 149°11.30′E), 400 m, coarse sand, gravel, mud, many sponges, 24 Jul 1986.

Harbansus felix; H. tenax; Spinacopia syrinx; Cymbicopia cervix; Neomuelleriella nex; Alphasarsiella altrix.

Slope 45: Tasmania off Freycinet Peninsula (42°2.20′S, 148°38.70′E), 800 m, coarse shelly sand, 27 Jul 1986.

Scleroconcha solox.

Slope 46: Tasmania off Freycinet Peninsula (42°0.20′S, 148°37.70′E), 720 m, coarse shelly sand, 27 Jul 1986.

Scleroconcha solox.

Slope 53: New South Wales 54 km ESE of Nowra (34°52.72′S, 151°15.04′E, 996 m, to 34°54.3′S, 151°19.5′E, 990 m), mud, fine sand, fine shell, 22 Oct 1988.

Igene illex; Harbansus hapax.

Slope 56: New South Wales 44 km E of Nowra (34°55.79′S, 151°08.06′E), 429 m, muddy coarse shell, 22 Oct 1988.

Scleroconcha solox; Harbansus hapax.

Slope 67: Victoria 67 km S of Point Hicks (38°23.95′S, 149°17.02′E), 1277 m, fine mud, 25 Oct 1988.

Spinacopia rex.

Slope 69: Victoria 76 km S of Point Hicks (38°29.33′S, 149°19.98′E), 1840 m, sandy mud, fine shell, 26 Oct 1988.

Spinacopia rex.

Slope 81: Tasmania 48 km ENE of Cape Tourville (42°00.25′S, 148°43.55′E, 1264 m, to 41°57.77′S, 148°42.08′E, 1130 m), gravel with lumps of sandy aggregate, 30 Oct 1988.

Scleroconcha solox; Spinacopia rex.

Slope 82: Tasmania 54 km ENE of Cape Tourville (41°57.30′S, 148°58.54′E), 1770 m, coarse biogenic rubble, 30 Oct 1988.

Spinacopia rex.

Appendix 2

Material from Museum of Victoria “Crustacea” Database