Ammothella appendiculata

Ammothella appendiculata (Dohrn, 1881) (Figure 5) Ammothea appendiculata Dohrn, 1881: 152–155, pls. VII, figs. l–5. Material examined: (CEMB, PYC– 015) 1♂, Sandspit, 12. viii.2015, on Zoanthus sansibaricus; (CEMB, PYC016) 1♀, Sandspit, 01.xii.2014, on Zoanthus sansibaricus; (CEMB, PYC–017) 2♀ juvenile Sandspit, 28.ix.2015 on Zoanthus sansibaricus. Remarks: This species has previously been reported from Buleji and Manora, Karachi (Gul & Ghani 2012), on littoral algae. It is reported from Sandspit for the first time on the Zoanthus colonies. Two juveniles were also collected with under-developed, 6-articled ovigers. Chela teeth and palps are well-developed. Ammothella appendiculata has wide morphological variation (Stock 1955; Child 1992). Differences were observed between these specimens and the specimens described and illustrated by Döhrn (1881), Stock (1955) and Child (1992), such as the size of the ocular tubercle and the number of spines in the heel. Those specimens have a short ocular tubercle and four spines on the heel, while the present material has a slightly more-elongated ocular tubercle and three spines on the heel. An elongate ocular tubercle was reported by Stock (1955) and Müller & Krapp (2009), and three heel spines were described by Marcus (1940), Stock (1955), Müller & Krapp (2009), Lehman et al. (2014). Distribution: Pakistan (Gul & Ghani 2012), Gulf of Aqaba (Stock 1957), Gulf of Naples (Dohrn 1881), Hong Kong (Bamber 1997), New Caledonia (Bamber 2007b), Pacific Panamá (Stock 1975), Mediterranean Sea (Stock 1958), Atlantic tropical and temperate (Müller & Krapp 2009).
Published as part of George, Zarish, Siddiqui, Ghazala, George, Nazish & Lucena, Rudá Amorim, 2020, A new species of Achelia (Pycnogonida: Ammotheidae) and first records of intertidal sea spiders found on Zoanthus (Cnidaria: Zoantharia) from Karachi Pakistan, pp. 371-393 in Zootaxa 4821 (2) on page 378, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4821.2.9, http://zenodo.org/record/4398801
{"references":["Dohrn, A. (1881) Die Pantopoden des Golfes von Neapel und der angrenzenden Meeresabschnitte. Monographie der Fauna and Flora des Golfes von Neapel, 3, 1 - 252. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 16340","Gul, S. & Ghani, N. (2012) Pycnogonids (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from Pakistan waters (north Arabian sea). International journal of Biotechnology, 9 (3), 201 - 208.","Stock, J. H. (1955) Pycnogonida from the West Indies, Central America and Pacific coast of North America. Papers from Dr. Th. Mortensen's Pacific Expedition 1914 - 1916. Vidensk Medd fra Dansk naturh Foren, 117, 209 - 266.","Child, C. A. (1992) Shallow-water Pycnogonida of the Gulf of Mexico. Memoirs of the Hourglass Cruises, 9 (1), 1 - 86.","Muller, H. G. & Krapp, F. (2009) The pycnogonid fauna (Pycnogonida, Arthropoda) of the Tayrona National Park and adjoining areas on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Zootaxa, 2319, 1 - 138. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 2319.1.1","Marcus, E. (1940) Os Pantopoda brasileiros e os demais sulamericanos. Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras da Universidade de Sao Paulo, 19, 3 - 179. https: // doi. org / 10.11606 / issn. 2526 - 4877. bsffclzoologia. 1940.114110","Lehman, T., Hess, M. & Melzer, R. B. (2014) Common littoral pycnogonids of the Mediterranean Sea. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 90, 163 - 224. https: // doi. org / 10.3897 / zse. 90.7520","Stock, J. H. (1957) Pycnogonida from the Gulf of Aqaba. Bulletin, Sea Fisheries Research Station, 13 (1), 13 - 14.","Bamber, R. N. (1997) Pycnogonids (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from the Cape D'Aguilar, Hong Kong. In: Morton, B. (Eds.), The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China IV, Proceedings of the Eighth International Workshop on the Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China, Hong Kong, 2 - 20 April 1995. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong. pp. 143 - 157.","Bamber, R. N. (2007 b) Pycnogonida of New Caledonia. In: Payri, C. E. & Richer de Forges, B. (Eds.), Compendium of Marine Species of New Caledonia. Documents scientifiques et techniques. Vol. 117. IRD, Noumea, pp. 225 - 257.","Stock, J. H. (1975) Pycnogonida from the continental shelf, slope, and deep sea of the tropical Atlantic and East Pacific. Biological results of the University of Miami deep-sea expedition, 108. Bulletin of Marine Science, 24 (4), 957 - 1092.","Stock, J. H. (1958) The Pycnogonida of the Erythrean and of the Mediterranean coasts of Israel. Bulletin, Sea Fisheries Research Station, 16 (5), 3 - 5."]}