Eurycyde clitellaria Stock 1955
Creators: name: Müller, Hans-Georg
name: Krapp, Franz
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Pycnogonida
Pantopoda
Ascorhynchidae
Eurycyde
Eurycyde clitellaria

description: Eurycyde clitellaria Stock, 1955   
Figs. 30–31  
 Eurycyde clitellaria Stock, 1955: 263. McCloskey 1967: 128. Child 1979: 16. Stock 1986: 401. Child 1988: 7.   
 Material: 4.— 4 fem. (1gravid), 3 juv. (SMF 1197), coral rubble, 30 m, 10. III.1986.   
 5.— 16 males (3 ov.), 15 fem. (gravid), 27 juv., the series has been divided as shown here: 10 males (3 ov.), 9 fem., 27 juv., SMF 1198; respectively 1 male and 1 gravid fem. ZFMK, INVEMAR, MNHN, ZSM and ZMA 3370; coral rubble, 30 m, 18.II.1986.   
 Description of male: Dorsal outline oval, completely segmented. Crurigers separated by 1/2–3/4 of their diameter. Crurigers 1 and 2 each with robust dorso-distal spine. Ocular process 3.6 times as long as broad, somewhat anteriorly inclined; eyes feebly pigmented; distal part of ocular process a slender cone bearing 3 short spines. Origin of oviger protruding, separated by about 2/3 of its diameter from first cruriger. Abdomen directed obliquely backwards and bent sharply ventrally at about mid-length, dorsally with 6 robust spines. Proboscis elongated pyriform, basal part twice longer than broad.   
Cheliphore scape two-articled, both articles of same length; basal article with robust dorso-distal spine; second article with a pair of small dorso-lateral spines at one third distance from proximal end, distally with pair of short dorso-lateral setae; cheliphore a stump with one short seta. Palp 10-articled, two short basal articles; third article longest, about 1.2 times as long as fifth; four distal articles densely beset with short ventral setae. Oviger 10-articled, with robust terminal claw; three basal articles short, fourth longest, 1.5 times as long as fifth; articles 7–10 with spines as figured. Leg 3: coxae 1 and 3 of subequal length; first coxae of all legs with robust dorsodistal spine; coxa 2 about 1.4 times as long as coxae 1 and 3; femur robust, middle part somewhat enlarged, with some robust dorsal and distal spines; tibia 1 is 1.2 times as long as tibia 2; tibia 1 straight, tibia 2 slightly curved, both with some slender dorsal spines and single sparsely plumose spine; tarsus 1/4 of propodus length, ventrally 4 short setae, dorso-laterally as well as distally single short seta; propodus slightly curved and with about 17 short ventral spines; main claw 2/5 length of propodus, robust.  
 Measurements: Length of trunk—1.1; width 0.75 (across 2 nd crurigers); length of abdomen 0.5; length of proboscis: basal part 0.3; distal pyriform part 0.75; length of cheliphores 0.35. Article lengths of leg 3: coxa 1—0.22; coxa 2—0.31; coxa 3—0.18; femur 0.72; tibia 1—0.70; tibia 2—056; tarsus 0.14; propodus 0.46; main claw 0.20.   
 Female: In habitus and in size very similar to male, differing in: coxa 1 on legs 1–3 with additional pair of robust latero-distal spines; antero-lateral spines shorter than postero-lateral ones.   
 Remarks: Especially in the spination on the trunk of E. clitellaria appears to be rather variable when comparing the published descriptions (compare Child 1979: Stock 1955b: 263, Figs. 25–26). It seems doubtful whether the specimen recorded by McCloskey (1967: 128, Figs. 18–21) from North Carolina belongs to this species. This author ascribes to E. clitellaria a female specimen, but it does possess a cement gland and so ought to be a male. The spination on the crurigers, on the abdomen and on the legs differs distinctly from the original description as well as from the Colombian material. In addition the femora of the specimen figured by McCloskey are more robust, about 2.3 times as long as broad, in contrast to 3 times as long as broad in the present material. Also the material from the Santa Marta region differs from the original description of A. clitellaria by the presence of an additional antero-lateral spine on coxae 1 of legs 1–3; on the other hand the postero-lateral spine figured by Stock is absent on coxa 1 of leg 4.   
The relationships to other species in the genus are currently unclear.  
 As E. clitellaria was found in Colombia only twice, no conclusions about phenology and preferred substrata can be made.   
 Distribution: Virgin Islands (Stock 1955b), Pacific coast of Mexico (Child 1979), maybe North Carolina (McCloskey 1967), Caribbean coast of Colombia.
description: Published as part of Müller, Hans-Georg & Krapp, Franz, 2009, The pycnogonid fauna (Pycnogonida, Arthropoda) of the Tayrona National Park and adjoining areas on the Caribbean coast of Colombia 2319, pp. 1-138 in Zootaxa 2319 (1) on pages 61-63, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2319.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5317868