Pycnogonida from Costa Rica collected by Scuba Diving

Abstract

The knowledge of the pycnogonid fauna of Costa Rica is poor. This is the first report on Pycnogonida collected by scuba diving from both oceans of Costa Rica. Nine species from the Caribbean side and one from the Pacific coast are reported. We add eight species to the Caribbean fauna and one to the Pacific fauna of Costa Rica. No species new to science were encountered.

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“…Spanish coast: Malaga, Alboran Sea (Munilla, 1991); Chafarinas Islands, Alboran Sea (Munilla and Nieto, 1999); Ceuta (Tarragona San Vicente, 2000:2005). Italian coast: Naples (Dohrn,1881;Munilla, 1994); Catania, Sicily Island (Krapp, 1973); Costa d'Argento-Southern Tuscany (Vignoli et al, 2006); Giglio Island (Lehmann et al, 2014). Croatian coast: Islet of Banjole, Adriatic Sea (Krapp-Schickel and Krapp, 1975); Rovinj, Adriatic Sea (Schüller, 1989).…”

“…Previously records of Callipallene tiberi (Dohrn, 1881) from the Mediterranean Sea are from the western and central basins (Dohrn, 1881;Krapp, 1973;Krapp-Schickel and Krapp, 1975;Schüller, 1989;Munilla, 1991Munilla, ,1994Munilla and Nieto, 1999;San Vincente, 2000:2005;Vignoli et al, 2006;Lehman et al, 2014). There is no record of C. tiberi from the eastern Mediterranean as yet.…”

First record of Pentapycnon geayi Bouvier, 1911 (Pycnogonida: Pycnogonidae) in the state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil

“…Here P. geayi was recorded from depths of 0-2 m. All specimens were caught in tide pools in intertidal sandstone reefs during low tide, extending the bathymetric distribution shoreward for this species. Previous studies realized in other countries (French Guiana and Puerto Rico) showed that bathymetric distribution of P. geayi ranges from depths of 5-11 m (Hedgpeth 1947;Krapp & Viquez 2011).…”

“…The genus is composed of three species: Pentapycnon bouvieri Pushkin, 1993 andP. charcoti Bouvier, 1910 (Antarctic andSubantarctic regions), and P. geayi Bouvier, 1911 (Caribbean Sea to the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean) (Bouvier 1911;Hedgpeth 1948;Stock 1975Stock , 1992Child 1995;Krapp & Viquez 2011). The present record of P. geayi is the first for the state of Ceará, and therefore fills a gap in this species' distribution along the Brazilian coast between the states of Pará and Rio Grande do Norte.…”

“…Specimens were captured by hand by two persons for 1 hour (CPUE) in tide pools in the mesolitoral zone during spring low tides. In the laboratory, specimens were identified following the original description of Bouvier (1911), and recent taxonomy and systematic group work using the current terminology (Stock 1975(Stock , 1986(Stock , 1992Child 1995;Arango 2000Arango , 2002Bamber 2009;Mueller & Krapp 2009;Krapp & Viquez 2011), sexed, and measured to ±0.01 mm with an ocular micrometer. The individuals were fixed in ethanol 70%, and deposited in the invertebrate collection of the Laboratório de Invertebrados Marinhos do Ceará (LIMCE-UFC), Universidade Federal do Ceará, in Fortaleza, state of Ceará, Brazil.…”