Decolopoda
| Decolopoda | |
|---|---|
| |
| Illustration of D. australis, from a specimen found at the South Shetlands by the Scottia Expedition. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Pycnogonida |
| Order: | Pantopoda |
| Family: | Colossendeidae |
| Genus: | Decolopoda Eights, 1835 |
Decolopoda is a genus of sea spider (class Pycnogonida) belonging to the family Colossendeidae.[1] This genus includes two valid species, D. australis and D. qasimi.[1] As the name of this genus implies, these two species are among the seven species of sea spider with five pairs of legs instead of the usual four leg pairs.[2]
Discovery[edit]
The species D. australis is notable as the first polymerous (i.e., extra-legged) sea spider to be discovered and was first described by James Eights based on specimens found off the South Shetland Islands in the Antarctic region in 1834.[3][4][5] Naturalists mostly ignored his discovery, dismissing the description by Eights as erroneous or based on a monstrosity, until the discovery of more ten-legged species several decades later.[4][5] Authorities have since deemed one of these species, D. antarctica, which was described in 1905, to be a junior synonym of D. australis,[1] but another species in this genus, D. qasimi, was described in 1993, based on a male holotype found off the coast of Queen Maud Land in Antarctica, and named for the Indian marine biologist Syed Zahoor Qasim.[4]
Description[edit]
The sea spiders in this genus resemble those found in the genus Colossendeis (e.g., C. wilsoni) but are larger and retain chelifores in adults.[5][4] Sea spiders of the giant species D. australis are bright scarlet,[3] they often weigh more than 10 g, and their legs span more than 20 cm.[6] The holotype for the species D. qasimi is dark maroon (when preserved) and has even longer legs (184.7 mm in length, compared to 100 mm for D. australis).[4] The species D. qasimi also differs from other species by having denticulate spines on its ovigers and hair only on its legs.[4] Phylogenetic studies indicate that the genus Decolopoda is nested within the genus Colossendeis in a phylogenetic tree, so that Colossendeis is paraphyletic with respect to Decolopoda.[7][8]
Distribution[edit]
Both species in this genus are found in the Southern Ocean and are endemic to the Antarctic region.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "PycnoBase - Decolopoda Eights, 1835". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2024-02-22.
- ^ Crooker, Allen (2008). "Sea Spiders (Pycnogonida)". In Capinera, John L. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Entomology. Dordrecht, NL: Springer Netherlands. pp. 3321–3335. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6359-6_4098. ISBN 978-1-4020-6359-6.
- ^ a b Eights, James (1835). "Description of a New Animal Belonging to the Arachnides of Latreille; Discovered in the Sea Along the Shores of the New South Shetland Islands". Boston Journal of Natural History. 1: 203–206 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ a b c d e f Jayasree, V.; Sreepada, R. A.; Parulekar, A. H. (1993). "An unusual giant pycnogonid (Pycnogonida-Colossendeidae) Decolopoda qasimi sp. nov. from Antarctic waters". Current Science. 65 (2): 179–181 – via NIO Digital Repository Service.
- ^ a b c Hedgpeth, Joel W. (1947). "On the evolutionary significance of the Pycnogonida". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 106 (18): 1–53. hdl:10088/22801 – via Smithsonian Research Online.
- ^ Davenport, J.; Blackstock, N.; Davies, D. A.; Yarrington, M. (1987). "Observations on the physiology and integumentary structure of the Antarctic pycnogonid Decolopoda austratis". Journal of Zoology. 211 (3): 451–465 [452]. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1987.tb01545.x. ISSN 0952-8369.
- ^ Ballesteros, Jesús A; Setton, Emily V W; Santibáñez-López, Carlos E; Arango, Claudia P; Brenneis, Georg; Brix, Saskia; Corbett, Kevin F; Cano-Sánchez, Esperanza; Dandouch, Merai; Dilly, Geoffrey F; Eleaume, Marc P; Gainett, Guilherme; Gallut, Cyril; McAtee, Sean; McIntyre, Lauren (2021-01-23). Crandall, Keith (ed.). "Phylogenomic Resolution of Sea Spider Diversification through Integration of Multiple Data Classes". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 38 (2): 686–701. doi:10.1093/molbev/msaa228. ISSN 1537-1719. PMC 7826184. PMID 32915961.
- ^ Dietz, Lars; Dömel, Jana S.; Leese, Florian; Mahon, Andrew R.; Mayer, Christoph (2019-07-01). "Phylogenomics of the longitarsal Colossendeidae: The evolutionary history of an Antarctic sea spider radiation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 136: 206–214. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.04.017. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 31002869. S2CID 125038415.
- ^ Soler-Membrives, Anna; Munilla, Tomás; Arango, Claudia P.; Griffiths, Huw (2014). "5.14. Southern Ocean biogeographic patterns in Pycnogonida" (PDF). Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean. Cambridge: Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research: 138–141 [139]. ISBN 978-0-948277-28-3.
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