Table Of ContentPROC. BIOL. SOC. WASH.
104(1), 1991, pp. 49-54
UPOGEBIA SPINISTIPULA, A NEW BURROWING
SHRIMP FROM THE FLORIDA SHELF,
NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO
(DECAPODA: THALASSINIDEA: UPOGEBIIDAE)
Austin B. Williams and Richard W. Heard
—
Abstract. Upogebia spinistipula, a new species ofburrowing thalassinidean
shrimp was taken in box core samples oflive bottom material from a sector
ofthe continental shelfinthe northeastern GulfofMexico that lies offPanama
City to Cape Romano, Florida. The rostrum of the small species (carapace
length ca. 1 mm) resembles that of U. lepta from the tropical eastern Pacific,
the tail fan resembles that ofmost species of Upogebia in the western hemi-
sphere having an essentially rectangular telson, and the ventrally spined an-
tennular and antennal peduncles resemble those ofwest Pacific species in the
recently described genus Gebiacantha. The species apparently has no close
relatives in the western Atlantic.
An undescribed species of Upogebia
Upogebia spinistipula, new species
Leach, [1814] was discovered in box core
Figs. 2-3
samples taken on the continental shelf(car-
bonate platform, see Rezak et al. 1990) of Material examined. —^13.. 2211,
the northeastern GulfofMexico. The col- 27°56'29.5"N, 83°52'59.5"W, 43 m, coarse
lections were part of a Minerals Manage- sand: USNM 239251, Holotype <5, Nov
ment Service (then Bureau of Land Man- 1977.-239252, Allotype 9, Jul 1976.-
agement) sponsored baseline study referred Paratypes: 239260, 1 1 5, 7 9(2 ovig.), 1juv.,
to as the Mississippi-Alabama-Florida Jul 1975 (4 $ and 2 9 ovig. to be transferred
(MAFLA) Outer Continental Shelf Study to GCRL).-239261, 2 <5, 2 9 ovig., 2 other
(OCS) (see Phillips et al. 1990). Material frags., Jul 1976.-239262, 1 9 ovig., Feb
usedinthepresentinvestigationcame from 1978.-239265,detachedlegs, 9 Aug 1977.
1 1 of the 87 MAFLA stations distributed Sta. 2528, 29°54'58.6"N, 86°04'58.5"W, 37
in 9 transectsthatwere sampledforbenthic m, coarse sand: 239253, 3 9 ovig. & 1 prob-
infauna during 1975-1978. Stations where able (5, Feb 1977.-1 $ cephalothorax, Sep
the new species was taken were scattered 1977.-2 9 (1 ovig.), Feb 1978. Sta. 2531,
from southeast ofPanama City, Florida, to 29°47'58.9"N, 86°09'28.9"W, 45 m, coarse
westofCapeRomano inwaterdepthsrang- sand: 239254, 3 9 (1 frag.), 7 Feb 1976.-1
ing from 10 to 177 m (Fig. 1). All of the juv., Nov 1977. Sta. 2532, 29°46'N,
specimensaredamaged, and manyarefrag- 86°12.5'W, 52 m, coarse sand: 239255, 1
mentarywith legs usuallydetached ormiss- tiny cephalothorax, Jul 1976. Sta. 2533,
ing. The holotype and a series ofparatypes 29°42'59.9"N, 85°15'28.6"W, 67 m, coarse
have been deposited in the National Mu- sand: 239256, 1 9 ovig., 26 Sep 1975.-1
seum of Natural History (USNM). Para- tiny juv., 8 Feb 1976. Sta. 2534, 29°40'N,
types to be transferred to the Museum of 86°17'W, 73 m, coarse sand: 239257, 1 3,
theGulfCoastResearchLaboratory(GCRL) Jul 1976. Sta. 2419, 29°46'59.8"N,
are indicated. 84°05'00.2"W, 10 m, medium fine sand:
PROCEEDINGSOFTHEBIOLOGICALSOCIETYOFWASHINGTON
50
LMrU.il'JIIIli-'i;;^"" '.^-''vJL-I."-!"i"'-''.'Jc!'8.'5-°IV0'0'v'.''i !''. I ,' ' -,-i8..3-|°..0'0''.'.. -.I-!-1."-.- -I' '.. '..'38l°00'
. / ^, .2528 ^^<^i^^ffiMS!^ N^^;^/::^";^;-;;^v^:^ 25 so 75 IOO:v'i^y/:
;./'. ."-^ 22553342'/2!5»235J3<l ', I....;., kilomfttert H>;:^^'•^:^K'?^^"V-
depth contour! in ''r' ' '^^,
29c
00'
^•23I3\
t ,
28'
CX)'
Tompal
W
27° 11'\ •1I'^ \\\\ \V \^ ^,^ \S^' ;' _
00'
1 / 'M
1 \
\
1
1^
26°
00' ^^
1
•295G1
< ^
1 1 1 \ \ 1 1 ':
Fig. L BLM 77/88 MAFLA Survey station locations in northeastern GulfofMexico at which Upogebia
spinistipula, new species, wascollected. Stationdata aregivenin MaterialsStudied.
239258, 1 juv., Sep 1977. Sta. 2313, terolateral spine. Telson subrectangular.
28°23'59.3"N, 85°15'03.0"W, 177 m, clay- Antennular and antennal peduncles each
ey, sandysilt: 239259, 1 3, 20Jan 1976. Sta. bearingirregularrowofventralspines.Mer-
2748, 27°37.2'N, 83°53.5'W, 50 m, coarse usofchelipedlackingsubdistaldorsalspine,
sand: 239263, 4juvs. (2 frags.), Jul 1976.- carpus with 2-3 subequal spines on me-
1 5, 2 5,Nov 1977.-1juv. frags., Feb 1978. siodistal margin. Merus ofleg 2 with prox-
Sta. 2959, 25°40'N, 83°05'W, 60 m, silty, imal mesioventral spine, merus of leg 4
very fine sand: 239264, 1 postlarva, 9 Aug spineless.
1977. Description. —Rostrum subtriangular,
Diagnosis.—KosXnxm bearing subapical straight, narrow, tip exceeding eyestalks by
pair ofstrong spines followed on each side distance at least % their length; dorsal pair
by 5-7 strong spines. Projections to either ofstrong, subapicalspinesfollowedoneach
side of elongate rostrum ending in acute lateral margin by 5-7 strong dorsal spines,
spine. Postocular spine present. First and ventral midline bearing 2-3 spines; dorsal
second abdominal segment lacking ventral surface bearing spiniform tubercles ar-
spines; sixth segment lacking hooked an- rangedmore orlessparallelto eitherlateral
VOLUME NUMBER
104, 1 51
Fig. 2. Upogebia spinistipula, new species, S Holotype: a. Cephalic region, lateral; b, Anterior carapace,
dorsal; c. Right cheliped, lateral; d, Left chela and carpus, mesial; e, Leg 2;/ Leg 3; g, Leg 4; h, Telson and
uropods. Scales = 1 mm: \, a, c, h; 2, b, d-g.
margin and confluent with field of similar cess and decreasing to obsolescence poste-
spinesonanterior%ofcephalicregion, field riorly. Shoulder flanking cervical groove
anglingtowardsidesposteriorlyanddimin- bearing 1 or2spinesbelowintersectionwith
ishing to obsolescence; gastric surface pos- thalassinidean line; lattercontinued to pos-
teriorto this smooth; field ofspines flanked terior margin ofcarapace with slight inter-
oneachsidebyposteriorlydivergentfurrow ruption. Postocular spine present.
and that in turn by straight lateral ridge Abdominal sterna unarmed, terga gla-
slightly diverging from median line poste- brous, very few setae on margin of pleura
riorly, each ridge bearing crest ofabout 8- 3-5.
10 spines, strongest on lateral rostral pro- Telsonsubrectangular, obsolescenttrans-
52 PROCEEDINGSOFTHEBIOLOGICALSOCIETYOFWASHINGTON
Fig.3. Upogebiaspinistipula, newspecies,2Paratype:a. Rightcheliped,lateral;b, Rightchelarotatedslightly
toshowventral spine on palm; c. Leftchelaandcarpus, mesial; d. Leg2; e. Leg 3;/ Leg4. Scale = 1 mm.
verse anterior ridge confluent with broader part of 2, ventromesial spines on article 2
lateral ridge at each side, posterior margin continued as ventral row on article 3, ter-
with shallow concavity. minal article spineless; scale moderate, tri-
Eyestalk stout, eye as broad as distal di- angular,taperedtoacuteterminalspine;fla-
ameter ofstalk, directed anteriorly and lat- gellum, if extended, reaching beyond
erally;stalkinlateralviewconcavedorsally, branchiostegite.
convex ventrally. Maxilliped 3 without epipod.
Antennularpedunclereachingslightlybe- Epistomialprojection subquadrateinlat-
yond terminal article ofantennal peduncle, eralview,bearing2strongspinesonantero-
its proximal 2 articles together slightly dorsal comer.
shorterthanterminalarticle; unevenrowof Chelipeds subequal. Coxa with slender
spinesonventral margin ofarticles 1, 2 and anteriorly hooked spine on posteromesial
proximal half of 3; flagella unequal, lower margin. Ventral margin of ischium spine-
thinnerramus somewhat longerthan thick- less. Merus lacking subdistal dorsal spine;
er upper one. row of9-1 1 slender variably sized and ar-
Antennal peduncle with less than V3 its ranged spines or tubercles on ventral mar-
length (terminal article and distal part of gin. Carpus trigonal, shallow longitudinal
penultimatearticle)extendingbeyondtipof groove laterally, lacking submarginal spine
rostrum, row of spines on ventrolateral at anterior ventrolateral comer; mesiodor-
margin ofapparent articles 1 and proximal sal crest of 3 or more moderate to strong
VOLUME NUMBER
104, 1 53
Spines behind prominent spine on anterior Uropodwithovateexopodfaroverreach-
margin, 3 moderate spines on anterodorsal ing subtriangularendopod, tiny acute spine
margin mesial to ari;iculation with propo- on protopod above base ofendopod.
dus; strongspinenearmiddleofdistomesial Measurements in mm. —Holotype $:
margin, and occasionally 1 or 2 smaller length anterior carapace 6.8, length cara-
spinesonmarginaboveit,Ssometimeswith pace 10.9,lengthchelaincludingfixedfinger
tubercles on proximomesial surface near 7.7, height palm near midlength 2.8; allo-
anteromesial spines. Palm suboval in cross type 9, same measurements: 4.0, 6.8, 2.8,
section, length including fixed finger about 0.77.
2.4 times height near midlength in S, 5.5 Known m«^^.—Confined to the material
times height in 9; bearing longitudinal rows examined (see Fig. 1).
ofmixedplumoseandlongsetae on all sur- Etymology.—From the Latin "spina,"
faces, longest ventrally; palm ofS with ob- spine, and "stipula," stalk, for the spined
solescentdorsalridge, parallelingthisame- antennular and antennal peduncles. It is a
siodorsal row offorwardly bent or hooked noun in apposition.
spines, and on proximomesial margin be- Remarks. — Upogebia spinistipula, new
neath overhanging prominent anterodorsal species, has an unmodified tail fan with es-
spine of carpus a slightly sigmoid row of sentially rectangular telson, being morpho-
spiniform tubercles; distomarginal spine logically similar in this respect to the ma-
below mesial dactylar condyle, 1-3 smaller jority of upogebiid species in the western
spines ventral to this on distal margin of hemisphere. In otherrespects, however, the
palm; lower mesial surface usually spine- species differs from western Atlantic con-
less, but often in S and occasionally in 9 a geners. The ventrally spiny antennular and
spine on ventral margin of palm about % antennal peduncles, forwhich the species is
distance from proximal margin; low ridge named, are shared by no other known rep-
runningobliquelyanteriadfromheelofpalm resentatives in the region, but these articles
to become obsolescent at midlength. Fixed are so spined in some species ofthe newly
fingershort, slender,downcurvedfrompalm erected Gebiacantha Ngoc-Ho, 1989, which
and tapering anteriorly to slender tip, 2-5 contains several representatives from the
obsolescent teeth on proximal prehensile Indo-WestPacificregion. Gebiacanthaacu-
edge. Dactyl stouter than fixed finger and tispina (deSaintLaurent&Ngoc-Ho, 1979)
faroverreachingit,setose,toothless,tipcor- andG. reunionensisNgoc-Ho, 1989areper-
neous. haps closest to U. spinistipula with respect
Legs 2-5 elongate and slender. Leg 2 to these structures. U. spinistipula has one
reachingabouttodistal V4 ofchelipedpalm; postorbital spine, but species ofGebiacan-
carpuswith slender, acute distodorsal spine tha have two or more postorbital spines.
and similar but smaller subdistal ventral The relatively smooth but sexually dimor-
spine;meruswithoutsubdistaldorsalspine, phic chelipeds ofU. spinistipula are devoid
proximalmesioventralspinesucceededdis- ofstrongventralspinescharacteristicofG^-
tally by 5-7 ventral spines diminishing in biacantha species.
size along row; coxa with strong proxi- ThelongslenderrostrumofU. spinistipu-
momesial spine. Leg 3 with merus bearing la bears some resemblance to that of U.
ventral row of 5-9 spines; ischium un- lepta Williams, 1986, from the eastern Pa-
armed; coxa of9 with flange-like low spine cific. The dorsal surface of the rostrum of
lateral to gonopore. Leg 4 with merus and the formerbears small spines in addition to
ischium unarmed, dactyl longer than pro- those along the rostral margin, whereas in
podus. Subchelate leg 5 reachingbeyond is- U. lepta the dorsal surface, except for the
chium ofcheliped. margin, is spineless. U. spinistipula there-
54 PROCEEDINGSOFTHEBIOLOGICALSOCIETYOFWASHINGTON
fore seems to stand apart in a number of Leach, W. E. [1814]. Crustaceology. In Edinburgh
respects from other species in the family. encyclopaedia 76:383-437, pi. 221, Edinburgh
[Scotland].
Ngoc-Ho, N. 1989. Sur le genre Gebiacantha gen.
Acknowledgments
nov., avec la description de cinq especes nou-
velles (Crustacea, Thalassinidea, Upogebi-
The manuscript benefitted from the con- idae).—Bulletin du Museum National d'His-
structive comments of Bruce B. Collette, toire Naturelle, Serie 4, Section A 11(1):117-
Brian Kensley, Raymond B. Manning, and 145.
an anonymous reviewer. We are grateful to Phillips,N.W.,D.A.Gettleson,&K.D.Spring. 1990.
Hans G. Kuck for sorting the material and BenthicbiologicalstudiesofthesouthwestFlor-
ida shelf.—AmericanZoologist 30(l):65-75.
preliminary work on identification, and to Rezak,R.,S.R.Gittings,&T.J.Bright. 1990. Biotic
Keiko Hiratsuka Moore for preparing the assemblagesandecologicalcontrolsonreefsand
illustrations. Specimens studied were col- banksofthenorthwestGulfofMexico.—Amer-
lected under Bureau ofLand Management icanZoologist 30(1):23-35.
contracts to the State University System of Williams,A.B. 1986. Mudshrimps, CpogeZj/a, from
the eastern Pacific (Thalassinoidea: Upogebi-
FloridaInstituteofOceanography(contract
idae).—San Diego Society ofNatural History,
08550-CT-ll) and to Dames and Moore Memoir 14:1-60.
(contract AA550-CT7-34).
(ABW) National Marine Fisheries Ser-
Literature Cited vice Systematics Laboratory, National Mu-
seumofNaturalHistory, Washington, D.C.
De Saint Laurent, M., & N. Ngoc-Ho. 1979. De- 20560; (RWH) Gulf Coast Research Lab-
scription de deux especes nouvelles du genre
Upogebia Leach, 1814 (Decapoda, Upogebi- oratory, P.O. Box 7000, Ocean Springs,
idae).—Crustaceana 37(l):57-70. Mississippi 39564-7000.
