Platypodiella picta

Platypodiella picta (A. Milne Edwards, 1869)

Cancer geographicus.—Monod, 1933b:548 [footnote, nomen nudum].

Platypodia picta.—Monod, 1956:299, figs. 363–367 [Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Congo; references].—Rossignol, 1957:83, fig. 3 [Congo].—Longhurst, 1958:88 [Sierra Leone].—Gauld and Buchanan, 1959:128 [Ghana].—Gauld, 1960:70 [Ghana].—Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962:57 [Cape Verde Islands].—Rossignol, 1962:117 [Congo].—Ribeiro, 1964:10 [Cape Verde Islands].—Forest and Guinot, 1966:79 [São Tomé].—Guinot, 1967d:562 [listed], 563 [discussion; transferred to Platypodiella].

Platypodiella picta.—Guinot, 1971:1074 [listed].

DISTRIBUTION.—West Africa, from the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands, several mainland localities between Senegal and the Congo, and the offshore islands of Annobon and São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea; shallow water, intertidal and sublittoral.

Pseudomedaeus Guinot, 1968a:718 [discussion], 726 [type-species: Medaeus africanus Monod, 1956, by original designation; gender: masculine]; 1971:1069 [list of species].

* Pseudomedaeus africanus (Monod, 1956)

? Paraxanthias eriphioides.—Capart, 1951:161, fig. 61 [fide Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962:58] [not Paraxanthias eriphioides (A. Milne Edwards, 1867)].

Xanthias tuberculidens.—Capart, 1951, pl. 3: fig. 13 [fide Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962:58] [not Xanthias tuberculidens Rathbun, 1911].

Medaeus africanus Monod, 1956:306, fig. 380.—Longhurst, 1958:88.—Gauld, 1960:70.—Rossignol, 1962:118.—Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962:58, fig. 25.—Crosnier, 1964:34.—Forest and Guinot, 1966:80.—Crosnier, 1967:328, figs. 5, 11, 12, 15.—Guinot, 1968a:718 [discussion]. 726, 727 [listed].

Pseudomedaeus africanus.—Guinot, 1968a:726 [discussion], 727 [listed], fig. 57; 1971:1069 [listed].—Williams, 1978:553, fig. 4a.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: Ivory Coast: Sta 64, 68 m, 2 (L, W).

Geronimo Material: Gabon: Sta 211, 100 m, 1 (W).

Other Material: Dahomey: Off Dahomey, 55 m, Oct 1963, A. Crosnier, 2 (W).

DESCRIPTION.—Monod, 1956:306.

Figures: Capart, 1951, fig. 61, pl. 3: fig. 13; Monod, 1956, fig. 380; Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962, fig. 25; Crosnier, 1967, figs. 5, 11, 12, 15.

Male Pleopod: Capart, 1951, pl. 3: fig. 13 (Angola); Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962, fig. 25 (Spanish Sahara); Williams, 1978, fig. 4a (Gabon).

MEASUREMENTS.—Our specimens have carapace widths of 5 to 21 mm; the largest was taken by the Geronimo.

BIOLOGY.—Pseudomedaeus africanus is an offshore species, living on the shelf and upper slope in depths between 34 and 200 m. Crosnier (1964) characterized it as a cold water species, living in depths greater than 50 m off Cameroon. Longhurst (1958) found it on shelly mud in 34 to 100 m off Sierra Leone, and Gauld (1960) reported it from colonies of Dendrophyllia in 100 m off Ghana. A large series of more than 70 specimens was collected by the Calypso on mud shells, gorgonians and ascidians in 43–45 m off Spanish Sahara (Forest and Guinot, 1966).

Ovigerous females have been collected in March and May (Monod, 1956; Forest and Guinot, 1966).

DISTRIBUTION.—West Africa, from scattered localities between Spanish Sahara and Angola, in depths between 34 and 200 m. Records since 1956 include the following:

Spanish Sahara: 21°05′N, 17°14′W, 43–45 m (Forest and Guinot, 1966).

Senegal: Dakar (Guinot, 1968a).

Sierra Leone: No specific locality, in 34–100 m (Longhurst, 1958).

Ghana: Off Accra, 100 m (Gauld, 1960).

Dahomey: No specific locality, 55 m (Williams, 1978).

Cameroon: No specific locality, deeper than 50 m (Crosnier, 1964).

Gabon: No specific locality (Crosnier, 1967). W of Libreville, 45–57 m, and W of Nyanga, Pointe Panga, 03°10′S (Rossignol, 1962). 02°32′S, 09°05′E, 101 m (Williams, 1978).

Congo: No specific locality (Crosnier, 1967). WSW of Pointe-Noire, 120 m (Rossignol, 1962).

Angola: Ilha de Luanda, 105 m (Guinot and Ribeiro, 1962).

Xantho Leach, 1814:430 [type-species: Cancer incisus Leach, 1814, by monotypy; gender: masculine; name 1016 on Official List].—Guinot, 1971:1067 [list of species].

Salax Gistel, 1848:xi [substitute name for Xantho Leach, 1814; type-species: Cancer incisus Leach, 1814; gender; masculine].

Platypodiella picta (A. Milne Edwards, 1869)

Lophactaea picta A. Milne Edwards, 1869:410.

Platypodia picta.—Monod, 1956:299, figs. 363–367.

Platypodiella picta.—Manning and Holthuis, 1981:155.

MATERIAL.—Smithsonian 1976 Collection: Sta 5A–76, Shelly Beach: 1 male [9.2].

Operation Origin: Site 31, Spire Rock, from zoanthid sample,7 m: 1 juvenile [2.1].

SIZE.—Carapace length of male, 9.2 mm; of juvenile, 2.1 mm.

COLOR.—Elevations brown and grooves whitish; palm of chela with broad brown spot; walking legs banded with yellow-brown and off -white.

HABITAT.—In tide pools and associated with zoanthids in seven meters.

DISTRIBUTION.—West Africa from the Canary Islands to the Congo; central Atlantic from Ascension; littoral and shallow sublittoral.in less than 30 meters.