Dromia marmorea Forest 1974

Dromia marmorea Forest, 1974

Dromia vulgaris.—Osorio, 1889:135, 139; 1898:193.—A. Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1900:17, pl. 9: figs. 12–14 [not fig. 15].—Rathbun, 1900a:300.—Balss, 1921:47.—Gordon, 1950:246 [part], figs. 24, 25.—Longhurst, 1958:87.—Buchanan, 1958:20. [Not Dromia vulgaris H. Milne Edwards, 1837 = D. personata (Linnaeus, 1758).]

Hairy Brown Sea Crab.—Irvine, 1932:13, fig. 16.

Dromia caput-mortuum.—Irvine, 1947:301, fig. 205.—Gauld, 1960:68. [Not Cancer caputmortuum Linnaeus, 1767 = Dromia personata (Linnaeus, 1758).]

Dromia caputmortuum.—Monod, 1956:59, figs. 35–51, 83a.—Rossignol, 1962:113. [Not Cancer caputmortuum Linnaeus, 1767 = Dromia personata (Linnaeus, 1758).]

Dromia nodosa.—Monod, 1956:65 [part]. [Not Dromia nodosa A. Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1898.]

Dromia personata.—Crosnier, 1967:321 [not Cancer personatus Linnaeus, 1758].

Dromia marmorea Forest, 1974:79, 81, figs. 1c, 2, 3b, 4d–f, j,k, 5, pl. 1: figs. 2,4, pl. 3: fig. 2, pl. 4: fig. 7, pl. 5: figs. 3,4, pl. 8: figs. 3,4.—Türkay, 1976b:61 [listed], 62.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: None.

Other Material: Senegal: Dakar, 1949, R. Mauny, paratypes, 1, 1 (MP). Bel-Air, near Dakar, 5–10 m, lobster net, 1967, I. Marche-Marchad and J. Forest, paratypes, 1, 1 (W), 1 ov (W). S of Gorée, 40 m, E. Postel, paratype, 1 (MP).

Gambia: No specific locality, in crawfish nets, 2.5–3 fm (ca. 5 m), 6 Feb 1951, M. H. Routh, 2, 1 (BM).

Ghana: No specific locality, 1966, F. R. Irvine, 1 (BM). Accra, 1938, F. R. Irvine, paratypes, 2 (1 ov) (BM).

Gabon: Cap Lopez, 20 m, Dec 1956, A. Crosnier, paratype, 1 ov (MP).

Congo: Baie de Pointe-Noire, beach seine, Oct 1955, M. Rossignol, paratypes, 2 (MP). Baie de Pointe-Noire, wide-mouthed nets, Aug 1967, 1 (MP). Off Pointe-Noire, 50 m, mud, dredged, 3 Jan 1964, A. Crosnier, paratype, 1 (MP).

Cabinda: Landana, 1876–1890, L. Petit, 1 (L).

DESCRIPTION.—Forest, 1974:71, 81–85.

Figures: Monod, 1956, figs. 35–51, 81a; Forest, 1974, figs. 1c, 2, 3b, 4d–f,j,k, 5, pl. 1: figs. 2,4, pl. 3: fig. 2, pl. 4: fig. 7, pl. 5: figs. 3,4, pl. 8: figs. 3,4.

Male Pleopod: Monod, 1956, figs. 50, 51 (Senegal).

Color: The alcohol preserved male from Landana has a dark rufous brown hair cover. The fingers are pink with white tips. This coloration is shown by practically all specimens examined. Irvine (1932, 1947) described the species as a “brown…crab, covered with a dense mass of brown felt-like hair,” the last two pereiopods being “fringed with brown hairs and have curious brown claw-like talons at the tips,” the fingers of the chelipeds are “bright pink,” the eggs are brown. Forest (1974:80) gave an extensive color description of the species.

MEASUREMENTS.—The carapace length of males varies from 12 to 72.8 mm, the carapace breadth between 14 and 98.4 mm. In non-ovigerous females these values are respectively 10 to 40 mm and 11 to 45 mm. Ovigerous females are known with carapace lengths between 34 and 53 mm, and carapace breadths between 42 and 65 mm. These data include those given in the literature. In juveniles (cl 10 to 12 mm, cb 11 to 14 mm) the carapace is only slightly wider than long, in the largest males it is up to 1.37 times as wide as long and in the largest females up to 1.31 times. As a whole the species thus has the carapace slightly wider than in Dromia personata, where in the juveniles the carapace is as wide as long, while in the old males examined by us (cl up to 72 mm, cb up to 92 mm) the width is never more than 1.30 times the length, and in large females (up to cl 53 mm, cb 63 mm) not more than 1.20 times. The diameter of the eggs is 0.50 to 0.55 mm (Monod, 1956).

DISTRIBUTION.—Dromia marmorea is a West African species, reported from the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands south to Cabinda, and São Tomé and Principe islands in the Gulf of Guinea. Monod (1956:62) reported two males and a female from “Cap Blanc, M. H. Routh coll., 1951 (B.M.)”; an examination of this lot in the British Museum revealed that Monod's locality indication was erroneous, for the specimens actually originate from Gambia (see “Other Material” p. 11). The records of the species in the literature are as follows:

Azores: Ilha do Muda [?], off Ilha das Flores, 22–30 m; Caldeira Inferno, Ilha do Faial, 10 m; Ponta Sāo Diego [?], Ilha Terceira, 0–30 m; Ponta Delgada, 15–20 m, Caloura, 3 m, and Ponta da Galera, 10–12 m, Ilha de Sāo Miguel (all Forest, 1974).

Madeira: No specific locality (Gordon, 1950; Forest, 1974; Türkay, 1976b). Funchal harbor (Türkay, 1976b).

Canary Islands: Santa Cruz de La Palma, Isla de La Palma, 15 m; Playa de los Abrigos, Las Caletillas, 100 m (?), Puerto de la Cruz, intertidal, and Ensenada de Cristianos, intertidal, Isla de Tenerife; Playa Quemada, 2–3 m, and Arrecife, Isla de Lanzarote (all Forest, 1974).

Cape Verde Islands: Porto da Praia (as La Praya), Sāo Tiago, 10–30 m (A. Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1900; Forest, 1974); Porto da Praia, Sāo Tiago (as Porto Praia (I. Santiago)), the type-locality (Forest, 1974).

Mauritania: No specific locality (Monod, 1956; Forest, 1974).

Senegal: No specific locality, in 80 m (A. Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1900; Forest, 1974). Dakar (Monod, 1956; Forest, 1974). Gorée Island, near Dakar, beach, 2–3 m and 96 m; S of Gorée, 33–35 m and 40 m (Monod, 1956; Forest, 1974). Bel-Air, near Dakar, 5–10 m (Forest, 1974). Anse Bernard, Dakar; Gorée, 23 m; Mbour, 25 m; Joal (Monod, 1956).

Gambia: Erroneously cited as Cap Blanc, Mauritania (Monod, 1956).

Guinea-Bissau: 10°22′N, 16°22′W, 41 m (Forest, 1974).

Guinea: 09°22′N, 13°42′W, 20–35 m; Guinea, 15–20 m; 09°N, 13°50′W, 30 m (Monod, 1956). 09°20′N, 14°15′W, 32 m (Forest, 1974).

Sierra Leone: Off Freetown, 15 m (Forest, 1974).

Ghana: Gold Coast (Irvine, 1932); same, 23–45 m (Longhurst, 1958). Near Accra, in deep water (Irvine, 1947); same (Monod, 1956); same, in 5.5–14.6 m (Buchanan, 1958); same, in shallow water to 25 m (Gauld, 1960); same (Forest, 1974). Chorkor, near Accra, beach seine (Monod, 1956).

Principe: No specific locality (Osorio, 1889, 1898).

Sã;o Tomé: Praia Lagarto (Osorio, 1889, 1898).

Gabon: Cap Lopez, 20 m (Crosnier, 1967; Forest, 1974).

Congo: Baie de Pointe-Noire, beach seine (Rossignol, 1962; Crosnier, 1967; Forest, 1974). Off Pointe-Noire, 50 m (Crosnier, 1967; Forest, 1974).

According to Forest (1974) the present species also occurs in Saint Helena, and he assigned material from there identified as Dromia vulgaris by Melliss (1875) and Cunningham (1910), as well as that reported upon as Dromia species? by Colman (1946) and as Dromia erythropus by Chace (1966), to the present species. The records by Rathbun (1900a) and Balss (1921) of Dromia vulgaris from St. Helena are not original, but based on Melliss' (1875) record. We have examined Chace's (1966) St. Helena material and found it impossible to confidently assign it to the present species, although it indeed is very similar, but so is it similar to Dromia erythropus and D. personata. Therefore, we have not included St. Helena in the range of D. marmorea. It seems possible that the St. Helena Dromia belongs to a species distinct from either D. marmorea and D. erythropus, but more material is needed to decide the status of that form; it also is possible, although less likely, that more than one species of Dromia occurs in St. Helena waters.

* Dromia monodi Forest and Guinot, 1966

Dromia spinirostris Osorio, 1889:136, 139; 1898:193—Balss, 1921:47—Capart, 1951:23 [part, only specimens from A.S. 141 and Mercator]. [Not Dromia spinirostris Miers, 1881 = Sternodromia spinirostris.]

Dromia atlantica.—Rathbun, 1921:393, fig. 1, pl. 18: fig. 3 [not Dromia atlantica Doflein, 1904 = Sternodromia spinirostris (Miers, 1881).]

Dromia nodosa.—Monod, 1956:65 [part], figs, 52–71, 83b.—Longhurst, 1958:87.—Gauld, 1960:68. [Not Dromia nodosa A. Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1898.]

Dromia monodi. Forest and Guinot, 1966:43, fig. 1.—Crosnier, 1967:321 [part, only the male specimens].—Le Loeuff and Intès, 1968:38, tables 1,5,9.—Forest, 1974:96, figs. le, 2, 3f,g, 5, 7a,b, pl. 4: figs. 1–3, pl. 6: fig. 2.

Dromia sp.—Forest and Guinot, 1966:46.—Forest, 1974:99.

?Dromia.—Maurin, 1968b, fig. 4.

?Dromia nodosa.—Maurin, 1968b:484, 489.

Not Dromia nodosa.—Rossignol, 1962:113 [= Sternodromia spinirostris (Miers, 1881)].

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: Ghana: Sta 26, 27 m, shell bottom (scallops), 1 ov (L).

Nigeria: Sta 248, 33 m, 5, 5 (2 ov) (L, W). Sta 250, 24 m, brackish water, 1 (L).

Other Material: Senegal: Dakar, 10 m, Dec 1951, E. Postel, 1 (MP). Bel-Air, near Dakar, 1.5–10 m, lobster net, I. Marche-Marchad, 1 (MP).

Ivory Coast: Off San-Pedro, 20 m, 23 May 1958, Mission Casamance, I. Marche-Marchad, 1 (MP).

Cameroon: Kribi, beach seine, 10 Aug 1964, B. de Wilde-Duyfjes, 2 (L).

Cabinda: Off Cabinda, 25 m, Dec 1962, A. Crosnier, 1, 1 (MP).

DESCRIPTION.—Forest and Guinot, 1966:43; Forest, 1974:96.

Figures: Monod, 1956, figs. 52–71, 83b; Forest and Guinot, 1966, fig. 1; Forest, 1974, figs. 1e, 2, 3f,g, 5, 7a,b, pl. 4: figs. 1–3, pl. 6: fig. 2.

Male Pleopod: Monod, 1956, figs. 70, 71 (Ghana).

MEASUREMENTS.—The males in our material have carapace lengths varying between 14 and 43 mm, the females between 14 and 47 mm. The three ovigerous females have carapace lengths of 14, 18, and 47 mm, respectively.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: Liberia: Sta 68, 70 m, broken shell, 2 juv (L).

Ivory Coast: Sta 46, 38–42 m, mud bottom with dense Jullienella, 6, 3, 5 juv (L). Sta 47, 37 m, bottom with Jullienella, 1, 9 juv (W). Sta 62, 46 m, brown, branching and foliate Foraminifera, 1 juv (W). Sta 63, 64 m, sandy mud with shells, 1, 1 (L).

Ghana: Sta 22, 51 m, rough bottom, 1, 1 juv (L). Sta 24, 35–37 m, dark red bryozoans, 2, 1 (W). Sta 28, 49–53 m, 1 (L).

Other Material: Senegal: Gorée Bay, 9–15 fm (16–27 m), H. von Maltzan, syntypes of Dromia spinirostris Miers, 1, 1 (BM); holotype of Dromia fulvohispida Miers, 1 (BM).

Sierra Leone: Murray Town, 1920, N. P. Lowe, 1 (BM).

Ivory Coast: 05°12′30″N, 04°04′W, 40 m, trawl, 9 Oct 1963, Guinean Trawling Survey, Sta 3, 1 (MP).

Dahomey: Off Grand-Popo, 30 m, Petersen grab, 23 Feb 1964, Guinean Trawling Survey, Tr 34, Sta 2, 1 juv (L). 06°04′N, 01°38′30″E, 48 m, mud, 17 Oct 1963, 1 (MP). 06°10′N, 02°02′E, 45 m, sandy mud with Foraminifera, A. Crosnier, 1 juv (MP).

Cameroon: 03°54′N, 08°50′E, 65–70 m, mud, 25 Aug 1963, A. Crosnier, 1, 1 (MP).

Gabon: Cap Santa Clara, 20–40 m, 2 Jul 1960, trawled, Ombango Expedition, M. Rossignol, 1 juv (MP).

Congo: 04°23′S, 11°07′E, 88 m, mud, trawled, 26 Jan 1968, A. Crosnier, 1 (MP). 05°S, 11°36′E, 50 m, trawled, 13 Dec 1966, A. Crosnier, 1, 4 (1 ov, 2 impregnated) (MP). Off Pointe-Noire, 100 m, mud, 13 Feb 1967, A. Crosnier, 1, 1 (MP).

Angola: Ambriz, 70 m, Jul 1961, A. Crosnier, 1 (MP).

DESCRIPTION.—Forest, 1974:101.

Figures: Capart, 1951, figs. 2, 3b; Monod, 1956, figs. 72–82, 83c; Forest, 1974, figs. 1f, 2, 3h, 5, 6c,d, 7g–i, pl. 4: figs. 4,5, pl. 6: fig. 3, pl. 7: figs. 2, 4.

MEASUREMENTS.—The examined specimens have carapace lengths ranging from 5 to 64 mm. The largest male has a carapace length of 64 mm and a carapace width of 72 mm; in the largest female these values are 58 mm and 68 mm, respectively. Ovigerous (and impregnated) females have cl 48 to 58 mm and cb 55 to 58 mm. In juveniles the carapace width is slightly less (0.9 times) than the carapace length, and the larger specimens become relatively wider. Even in the largest specimen however, the ratio between carapace width and carapace length does not go beyond 1.19, the females as a rule being on the average somewhat wider than the males. Our finds agree with those by Crosnier (1967) who found that this species is slightly wider on the average than Dromia monodi, although the difference is slight.

Dromia marmorea Forest, 1974

Dromia marmorea Forest, 1974:79, figs, 1c, 2,3b, 4d–f, k, 5, pl. 1: figs. 2,4, pl. 3: fig. 2, pl. 4: fig. 7, pl. 5: figs. 3,4, pl. 8: figs. 3,4.—Manning and Holthuis,1981:11.

MATERIAL.—Operation Origin: Site 8, South West Bay, 1+ m: cast of 1 female [23.0].

Other Collections: McDowell (1986), English Bay, cave, lots of sponge in cave, night, scuba: 1 male [58.9].

SIZE.—Carapace length of male, 58.9 mm; of female, 23.0 mm.

HABITAT.—Littoral and sublittoral.

DISTRIBUTION.—Eastern Atlantic from off West Africa between the Azores and Cabinda, and central Atlantic from Ascension and St. Helena islands; littoral and sublittoral, usually in 50 meters or less.