FIRST RECORD OF PAGURISTES STREAENSIS PASTORE, 1984 (, , ) FROM THE GULF OF NAPLES (TYRRHENIAN SEA)

BY

OTTAVIO SOPPELSA and FABIO CROCETTA Department of Zoology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Mezzocannone, 8, I-80134 Naples, Italy

INTRODUCTION Observations of the catches carried out in the Gulf of Naples have led to the finding of a specimen of Paguristes streaensis Pastore, 1984. The place of collection is the Nisida Shoal (14◦9N40◦47E), Gulf of Pozzuoli (Naples), at a depth between 35 and 45 m; the collection was done in April 2004. The occupied a gastropod shell of the species Cerithium vulgatum Bruguière, 1792. This record extends its established distribution to the Tyrrhenian Sea.

DESCRIPTION In the Mediterranean Sea there are three different species ascribed to the Paguristes Dana, 1851: one is P. eremita (Linnaeus, 1767), common in the basin (Falciai & Minervini, 1992), the second is P. syrtensis De Saint Laurent, 1971, first reported from the waters along the Tunisian coasts at a depth between 10 and 15 m (De Saint Laurent, 1971). The third Paguristes species is P. streaensis Pastore, 1984, described from specimens collected in the cove “La Strea” (in the Ionian Sea) at a depth of 1.2 to 2 m on detritus and in Cymodocea meadows (Pastore, 1984), and considered in the faunal accounts for Italy (URL: www.faunaitalia.it — last update: December 3, 2003) as endemic (E), and known, hitherto, only from Area 5 (Southern Adriatic, Ionic Sea, and other related areas). Ates (1991), in fact, reports on a large number of P. streaensis noticed from 1980 to 1988 between the island of Corfu and the Aegean Sea. D’Udekem d’Acoz (1995) also recorded a great number of individuals of P. streaensis from the Aegean Sea. In that work (d’Udekem d’Acoz, 1995), specimens were sampled at different sites on Lesbos Island, in the Kallonis Gulf (39◦12N26◦10E) and in many places in the NW of Greece (38◦40N20◦57E), both at a depth between 0.5 © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2005 Crustaceana 77 (9): 1149-1151 Also available online: www.brill.nl 1150 NOTES AND NEWS and 3.0 m on seabeds rich in vegetation, whereas at greater depths only P. eremita was caught. More recently, Falciai (1997) examined five specimens of P. streaensis caught around the island of Lampedusa (south of Sicily), on different substrates at 40-65 m depth, while in July 1997 and 1998, several specimens were collected in Faborsa Bay near Rovinj (west coast of the Istrian Peninsula, northern Adriatic Sea) in a Cymodocea meadow, from 3 to 6 m depth (Abed-Navandi & Dworschak, 1998). Pastore (1984) indicated both morphological and colour differences between P. streaensis and P. eremita, but d’Udekem d’Acoz (1995) and Abed-Navandi & Dworschak (1998) were unable to find any morphological differences between them; however, they retained the species as distinct, since they have a quite different colour pattern and since no intermediates have been found so far. Our specimen has been identified on the basis of its highly characteristic colour pattern: carapace brown with a hue of greenish blue on some parts and with lateral, whitish dots; P1-P3 brown, in some parts with a tinge of greenish blue; subdistal part of P1 fingers and P2-P3 dactyli dark red, and tips of those same appendages white (terminal unguis brownish black). Antennae and antennules proximally brown, distally becoming red. Eyestalks greyish blue (proximally slightly yellowish), cornea golden yellow. Our hermit crab, preserved in alcohol 70%, has been deposited in the Museum of Zoology of the University of Naples Federico II (No. Z-6673).

ECOLOGY

Given the scanty reports, not much is known on the habits and ecology of the species. It needs, however, be underlined that the specimens found in the Adriatic, Ionian, and Aegean Seas have been taken to a maximum depth of 6 m, while those from the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Sicily Channel were found in deeper waters.

CONCLUSIONS

This record, the first for the Gulf of Naples (Moncharmont, 1981) and the Tyrrhenian Sea, considerably extends the known distribution of Paguristes streaen- sis. Therefore, it seems probable that more extensive research in Sicilian waters could yield more specimens of this species; its presence in the above-mentioned areas could otherwise not be explained, if it would not be present in the stretches of sea that link the currently established locations.