Waldotheres mccainae (Schmitt ex Schmitt, McCain & Davidson 1973)

Pinnotheres mccainae Schmitt, 1973

Pinnotheres rouxi Rossignol, 1957:84, fig. 4.—Silas and Alagarswami, 1967:1208 [listed].—Schmitt, McCain, and Davidson, 1973:2, 57 [synonymy]. [Preoccupied by Pinnotheres rouxi H. Milne Edwards, 1837.]

Pinnoteres rouxi.—Rossignol, 1962:118.

Pinnotheres mccainae Schmitt, in Schmitt, McCain, and Davidson, 1973:2, 5, 11, 57.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: None.

Other Material: Congo: Pointe-Noire, from mantle cavity of Donax rugosus Linnaeus, 25 Apr 1955, A. G. Humes, 10 ov (L, W).

DESCRIPTION.—Carapace quadrangular anteriorly, semicircular posteriorly. Anterolateral angles rounded, about as wide as front, each occupying about 1/3 of length of anterior margin of carapace. Lateral margins of carapace diverging posteriorly toward posterolateral angles. Carapace with surface naked, somewhat convex, integument thin. Front slightly convex in dorsal view, extending anteriorly to level of anterolateral angles; front bent strongly downward, coarsely pitted, at each anterolateral angle.

Third maxilliped (Figure 43a,b) placed very obliquely, almost transversely. Dactylus narrow, elongated, articulated just before middle of lower margin of propodus, extending almost to end of propodus. Merus about twice as long as palp and about twice as long as broad. Exopod almost entirely covered by merus, basal segment rather broad, more than twice as long as wide. Distal 2 segments of exopod narrow, together somewhat more than half as long as first segment.

Cheliped of female (Figure 43c) elongate, chela more than 3 times as long as high. Fingers about 3/4 as long as palm, tips sharp, curved. Basal part of cutting edges of both fingers with distinct tooth, that on fixed finger proximal to that on dactylus. Palm twice as long as high. Chela with fringe of long hairs on lower part of inner surface extending over all of fixed finger and distal part of palm. Dactylus with hairs scattered over surface. Row of hairs present on upper inner surface of carpus, merus with scattered hairs on inner surface.

Pereiopods (Figure 43d–g) similar, of same length, on both sides of body. Third leg longest, about twice as long as fifth, 1½ times as long as second or fourth. Dactyli of second and fifth legs shortest, that of fourth slightly longer, that of third about 1½ times length of shortest dactyli. In all legs, dactylus terminating in hook-shaped claw. Dactylus of second leg slightly more than 1/3 as long as propodus, half as long as carpus; merus twice as long as carpus. Dactylus of third leg 2/5 as long as propodus, half as long as carpus; merus less than twice as long as carpus. Dactylus of fourth leg 2/5 as long as propodus, 2/3 as long as carpus, 1/3 as long as merus. Fifth pereiopod shortest, stoutest; dactylus 2/5 as long as propodus, 2/3 as long as carpus, latter 3/4 as long as merus. Pereiopods not markedly hairy, only some scattered hairs present, densest proximally.

Abdomen of ovigerous females distinctly wider than carapace.

Eggs numerous, small, spherical, diameter about 0.2 mm.

Figures: Rossignol (1957) provided figures of the general shape of an ovigerous female, a rather poor figure of the third maxilliped, and one of the chela. Some additional sketches are provided here (Figure 43).

Male Pleopod: The shape of the male pleopod is unknown. The single type-specimen is a female, and our material consists entirely of females. Rossignol (1962) evidently had males at his disposal, as he reported that many of the Donax specimens collected by him were “habitée par un couple de cette espèce”; however, he gave no details of the male specimens.

MEASUREMENTS.—Our ovigerous females have carapace lengths varying from 4 to 6.5 mm, and carapace widths from 5.5 to 7 mm. The holotype, also an ovigerous female had the carapace 6 mm long and 7 mm wide. The diameter of the eggs is about 0.2 mm.

DISTRIBUTION.—So far the species is only known from the area of Pointe-Noire, Congo. The holotype was reported from the beach at Pointe-Noire (Rossignol, 1957); additional material was mentioned by Rossignol (1962) from the Baie de Pointe-Noire. Also the present material is from that locality.