NORTH-WESTERN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 11 (2): 375-376 ©NwjZ, Oradea, Romania, 2015 Article No.: 152802 http://biozoojournals.ro/nwjz/index.html

A new record of the spotted bumblebee shrimp, Gnathophyllum elegans (Risso, 1816) (: ) from the Aegean Sea (Izmir Bay, Turkey)

Okan AKYOL* and Ali ULAŞ

Ege University Faculty of Fisheries Urla, Izmir, Turkey *Corresponding author, O. Akyol, E-mail: [email protected]

Received: 13. January 2015 / Accepted: 12. March 2015 / Available online: 08. November 2015 / Printed: December 2015

Gnathophyllidae is a pantropical and subtropical family of shrimp and the family includes five gen- era with a total of 14 species and subspecies (Bruce 1986, Fransen & Türkay 2012, Fransen et al. 2012). Shrimps of this family are commonly small and have stout bodies. Gnathophyllid shrimps are also popularly known as the bumblebee shrimp. One of the bumblebee shrimps, Gnathophyllum ameri- canum is usually available in the aquarium trade (Calado 2008).

The Mediterranean bumblebee shrimp Gna- Figure 1. Dorsal view of Gnathophyllum elegans, caught thophyllum elegans (Risso 1816) is a nocturnal spe- from off Hekim Island, Urla, Izmir Bay (Photo: O. Akyol) cies and can be found in shallow waters at a depth of 0-35 m. It hides oneself under stones and peb- bles at daytime (Denitto et al. 2009, Meyer et al. 2014). G. elegans is widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean Sea; Italian seas, Adriatic Sea, Ae- gean Sea, Alboran Sea, Ionian Sea and coast of Is- rael and adjacent Atlantic regions, the Azores, the Canaries, Madeira and Moroccan Atlantic (Meyer et al. 2014). Although, G. elegans is a well known species in the western Mediterranean (Lewinsohn & Holthuis 1964), it has not been reported from the eastern part of the sea until 1960’s. In the Le- vant, first record of the species was one female specimen from Atlit, Israel in 12 July 1950 (Lewin- Figure 2. The capture sites of the specimens of Gnatho- sohn & Holthuis 1964). In Turkish waters, Co- phyllum elegans in the Aegean Sea: 1. coast of Sığacık lombo (1885) was mentioned from G. elegans for Bay (Geldiay & Kocataş 1968), 2. Off Hekim Island, the first time during his Dardanelles expedition. In Urla, Izmir Bay (present study). the Aegean Sea, Geldiay & Kocataş (1968) firstly reported a G. elegans (as Drimo elegans) with 22 mm some pebbles. The specimen was fixed in 70% body length in Sığacık coast of Izmir at a depth of ethanol and stored in the decapods collection of 0.3 m on 28 June 1967. This species has not been the Ege University, Fisheries Faculty (ESFM- observed since then. MAL/2014-01). Diagnostic features of the speci- On 27 October 2014, a 30 mm TL (11 mm CL) men were examined under a light microscope and specimen of G. elegans (Fig. 1) was captured by an length measurements were done with a digital octopus trap (concrete tube, 45 cm long and 15 cm caliper. Brief description of the specimen: first an- diameter) off Hekim Island, Izmir Bay (38°26’N- tenna has three flagellums of which two long, sec- 26°45’E, Fig. 2) at a depth of 7 m. Substratum was ond antenna is equal to the whole body, six ab- covered with sea grass (Posidonia oceanica) and dominal segments, smooth carapace, short ros- 376 O. Akyol & A. Ulaş trum, and uropods longer than telson. Color of the Calado, R. (2008): Marine ornamental shrimp- biology, aquaculture and conservation. Blackwell Publishing. specimen was dark brown with many small pale Colombo, A. (1885): Raccolte zoologische esguite del R. Proscafo golden spots. The counts and color patterns de- Washington nella compagne-abissale talassografica termined are in accordance with the description of dell’anno1885. Rivista Marittima pp. 22-53 [in Italian]. Denitto, F., Moscatello, S., Belmonte, G. (2009): Occurrence and Geldiay & Kocataş (1968). distribution pattern of Palaemon spp. shrimps in a shallow Up to now, only three records in Turkish wa- submarine cave environment: a study case in South-eastern ters seems that G. elegans is very rare in the area. Italy. Marine Ecology 30: 416-424. Fransen, C., Türkay, M. (2012): Gnathophyllum elegans (Risso, 1816). Bakır & Çevirgen (2010) reported 444 In: Costello, M.J., Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G., Arvantidis, C., species from Izmir Bay, however, G. elegans was Appeltans, W. (eds), European Register of Marine Species, absent in the check-list. Similarly, G. elegans was accessed through PESI at www.eu-nomen.eu. Fransen, C., De Grave, S., Türkay, M. (2012): Gnathophyllidae. In: not recorded among the crustacean biodiversity in Costello, M.J., Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G., Arvantidis, C., different habitats of the Turkish Aegean coasts Appeltans, W. (eds), European Register of Marine Species, (Kocataş et al. 2004, Kırkım et al. 2005, Ateş et al. accessed through PESI at www.eu-nomen.eu. Geldiay, R., Kocataş, A. (1968): Report on a collection of Natantia 2005). Thus, this short report contributes to the last (Crustacea Decapoda) from the Bay of Izmir and its knowledge of a new rare decapod crustacean for neighborhood. Ege Universitesi İlmi Raporlar Serisi No. 51, Izmir Bay and Aegean Sea fauna. pp.1-46 [in Turkish]. Kırkım, F., Kocataş, A., Katağan, T., Sezgin, M., Ateş, A.S. (2005): Crustacean biodiversity of Padina povania (L.) facies along the Aegean coast of Turkey. Turkish Journal of Zoology 29: 159-166. Kocataş, A., Katağan, T., Sezgin, M., Kırkım, F., Koçak, C. (2004): Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank Crustacean diversity among the Cystoseira facies of the Aegean fishermen Ilyas Varol and Erkal Giraylar for providing coast of Turkey. Turkish Journal of Zoology 28: 309-316. the valuable specimen. Lewinsohn, C.H., Holthuis, L.B. (1964): New records of decapod crustacean from the Mediterranean coast of Israel and the eastern Mediterranean. Zoologische Medelingen 40: 45-63. Meyer, R., Lehmann, T., Melzer, R.R., Geiselbrecht, H. (2014): Morphology of the first zoeal stage of the Mediterranean References bumblebee shrimp Gnathophyllum elegans studied with both light microscopy and scanning EM. Journal of Marine Biological Ateş, A.S., Katağan, T., Kocataş, A., Erkan Yurdabak, A. (2005): Association of the United Kingdom 94(1): 151-158. Decapod (Crustacea) fauna of Saros Bay (Northeastern Aegean Sea). Turkish Journal of Zoology 29: 119-124. Bakır, K., Çevirgen, F. (2010): Crustacean species of Izmir Bay. Ege Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 27: 79-90. [in Turkish]. Bruce, A.J. (1986): Observations on the family Gnathophyllidae Dana 1852 (Crustacea: Decapoda). Journal of Crustacean Biology 6: 463-470.