Caprella andreae Mayer, 1890

Werneck, Tammy Iwasa-Arai Hugo Gallo Neto Raquel Beneton Ferioli Max Rondon, 2020, Notes on amphipods associated with loggerhead marine turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) in south-eastern Brazil, Nauplius (e 2020034) 28, pp. 1-9 : 2

Caprella andreae Mayer, 1890

( Figs. 1−2 )

Caprella acutifrons Latreille, 1816: 433 . — Van Beneden, 1859: 78–81, pl. 1, figs. 9–11.

Caprella acutifrons f. andreae Mayer, 1890: 51–55 , 124, pl. 2, fig. 38, pl. 4, figs. 56, 70, 71. — Chevreux and Fage, 1925: 452, fig. 430A. — Stephensen, 1929: 182.

Caprella andreae . — McCain, 1968: 19, figs. 8, 9, 55. — Krapp-Schickel, 1993: 777, fig. 530. — Aoki and Kikuchi, 1995: 54–58, figs. 1, 2.

Material examined. 10 males, Brazil, São Paulo, Ubatuba, Fazenda Beach , MNRJ 029874 ; 1 ovigerous female, 2 non-ovigerous females, Brazil, São Paulo, Ubatuba, Fazenda Beach , MNRJ 029875 ; 4 males, Fazenda Beach, Ubatuba , Brazil, ZUEC CRU 4345 .

Distribution. North Atlantic Ocean ( Caine, 1986; Frick et al., 1998; Pfaller et al., 2008), China Sea ( Aoki and Kikuchi, 1995), Mediterranean Sea ( Krapp-Schickel, 1993; Sezgin et al., 2009; Domènech et al., 2014), south Atlantic Ocean (present study).

Remarks. Caprella andreae is an obligate rafting species that can benefit from different f loating substrates to disperse ( Thiel et al., 2003), including turtle carapaces ( Caine, 1978; Cabezas et al., 2013). Cabezas et al. (2013) showed that C. andreae is closely associated with settling substrates, and that populations associated with turtles present higher genetic diversity. They also suggest that C. andreae may represent a species complex, based on two distinct clades found: one from the eastern North Atlantic and western Mediterranean, and other comprising the western North Atlantic and eastern Mediterranean. The specimens found in Brazil are almost identical to the descriptions provided by Krapp-Schickel (1993) and Aoki and Kikuchi (1995), with the exception of the grasping spines of P7, which are located closer to the upper margin of propodus ( Fig. 1D ). However, this slight difference was not considered enough to make another species designation and further genetic studies may confirm the species identity. De Loreto and Bondioli (2008) previously found one unidentified species of Caprella sp. on turtles in Cananéia, state of São Paulo, which could possibly be C. andreae .

Figures

Figure 1. Caprella andreae Mayer, 1890. A, Male MNRJ 029874. B, Female MNRJ 029875. Scale = 1 mm.

Figure 2. Caprella andreae Mayer, 1890. Male, MNRJ 029874. A, Antenna 1, scale = 500 μm. B, Gnathopod 1, scale = 200 μm. C, Gnathopod 2, scale = 200 μm. D, Pereopod 7, scale 200 μm.