Chesapeake Science VoL 6, No. 3, pp. 190-196 September, 1965

The Caprellidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of Virginia'

J ohn C. M cC a in , Sr . Formerly; Virginia Insfitufe of MariJie Science Gloucester Point, Virginia Presently: l \ S. Xational Museum Division of Crustacea Washington, D. C.

ABSTRACT: Five species ot caprellid amphlpods occur in Virginia waters: Aeginina longi- comis, Hemiaegina nunuta, Poracafnella tenuis, Caprella equilibra, and Caprella geometrica. Though all are offshore species, the latter three conunonly occur within Chesapeake Bay. Deutella abracadabra is placed as a junior synonym of Pttracaprella tenuis and the name Caprella geometrica is assigned to the “aculifrans” form found along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States.

Introdurtion tional Museuin of Canada), Dr. Thomas E. Systematic -work on the caprellids of the Bowman (United States National M u ­ Atlantic coast of North Anicrica specifi­ seum). Mr. Roland Brown (United States cally has not been undertaken and hereto­ National Museum), Mr. Maximo Cerame- fore work on the caprellids of this area Vivas (Duke University Marine Labora­ generally appears as a hy-product of gani- tory). Mr. Paul Chanley (Virginia Institute maridean aniphipod taxonomy. Aside from of Marine .'Science i. Dr. Jacques Forest faunallists, Holmes (190oj, Kunkel (1918), (Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and Mayer (1890. 1903) have been the only Paris), Dr. R. W. George (Western Aus­ useful works available until Steinberg and tralian Mu.seum), Mr. Milton B. Gray Dougherty il957; published on the caprel­ (Sapelo Island Research Foundation), Dr. lids of the Gulf of Mexico. R. Winston Menzel (Florida State Univer­ Large numbers of caprellids are found in sity i, Mrs. Sarah Richards (Bingham Chesaj)eake Bay and are easily collected Oceanograf)hic Laboratoiy, Yale Univer­ from almost any mass of .apeake Bay has been un­ ant,— antenna resolved. It is the j>ur[)ose of this paper to gn.— gnathopod clarify this situation and to review the re­ NMC—National Museum of Canada maining species of this area. U SNM — United States National Museum For specimens I am indebted to Mr. W.\M— Western Australian Museum Tapan Banerjee (Virginia Institute of M a­ rine Science), Dr. Dorotliy E. Bliss (Ameri­ SyBtematic Account can Museum of Natural History), Dr. Key to the species of eapi-ellids in Virginia Enrique E. Boschi (University of Buenos waters: Aires, Argentina), Dr. E. L. Bousfield (Na- 1. Mandib\ilar palps present...... ' Virginia Institute of Marine Science Contribu­ ...... Aeginina longicorm's tion Xo. 187. Mandibular palps aKsent...... (2) 2. Rudimentary appendages present on Aeginina longicornis (Kr0yer, 1843) pereods .3 and 4, antennal swimming setae absent...... (3) (Fig. la) Rudimentary api)cndages absent on Synonym y:—Refer to Shoemaker, 1930, pereods 8 and 4, antennal swimming p. 134. setae present...... (4) Description:— Length of large.«t male 54 3. Appendages on pereods 3 and 4 1-seg­ mm (18 mm in southern range); body tu- mented ...... Hemiaegina minuta berculation variable, smooth to spiny; pe­ Appendages on pereods 3 and 4 2-seg- reods 1 and 2 elongated; ant. 2 extending mented...... Paracaprella tenuis beyond penultimate joint of ant. 1, swim­ 4. Pereods 1 and 2 elongated in males, ming setae.absent; segments of flagellum of anteriorly directed triangular pro­ ant. 1 increasing in length distally; mandib­ jection not present on pcreod 1, spine ular palp 3-segniented; rudimentary ap­ present between bases of gn. 2 ...... pendages absent on pereods 3 and 4; pro- ...... Caprella equilibra podus of gn. 1 triangular in outline, palm Pereods 1 and 2 not elongated in males, with a proximal pair of grasping spines; anteriorly directed triangular projec­ palm of the propodus of gn. 2 bearing a large tion present on pereod 1, spine absent proximal and distal tooth, setae few; gills between ba.ses of gn. 2 ...... on pereods 3 and 4, elongate in outline; ...... Caprella geometrica pereopods decreasing in length from 5-7.

Fig. 1. a. Aeffinina lonfficomis, $ pereods 1-1. b. CapreUa equilibra, $ pereods 1-1. c. Caprella geometrica, $ pereods 1-1. d. Paracaprella tenuis, S pereods 1-1. e. Para- caprella tenuis, $ gn. 2. f. CapreUa eqvilibra, 2 gn. 2. g. Caprella geometrica, 9 gn. 2. All scales are 1 mm. Distribution:— Siberian Polar Sea; Kara Hemiaegina minuta Mayer, 1890 Sea; Xovaya Zemlya; Franz Josef Land; Synonymy:— Refer to Steinberg and Spitsbergen: Murmansk; Norway; Den­ Dougherty, 1957, p. 281. mark; Faeroe Islands; Jan Mayen; Iceland; Description:— Since I have been unable Eastern and western coasts of Greenland; to obtain sjiecimens of this species I take the Baffin Bay; Newfoundland; Labrador; East liberty of presenting an abbreviated version Port, Maine; Narragansett Bay; Woods of Steinberg and Dougherty’s (1957, p. 2811 Hole, Massachusetts; Long Island Sound; diagnosis: Eastern Shore of Virginia; Norfolk, Vir­ Length of largest male 4 mm; body ginia; Oregon Inlet. North Carolina. smooth; fiagellum of ant. 1 of 11-13 seg­ Remarks:— This species is quite variable ments; flagellum of ant. 2 2-segmented, in the degree of s])ination of the body. In bearing a few sensory hairs; gn. 2 with specimens from North Carolina the body proximal poison tooth one-third of way dis­ was covered with small tubercles but lacked tally from base, convex in middle third, and any spines. S])ecimens from the Eastern there bearing a small tooth in adult males, Shore of Virginia had large tubercles with distal third of jialni hearing a shelf sepa­ no spines, and those from Maine and the rated from the rest of palm by a cleft and Gulf of St. Lawrence had a high degree of bearing two small teeth and a few short spination. Holmes 119051 cites this situation setae, dactylus crooked and finely denticu­ and states that there a]>pear to be all grada­ late on inner surface; i>ereods 3 and 4 with tions between smooth and spiny forms. 1-segnicnted appendages at ba.'^e of gills; Mayer 11890) names three varieties of pereoi>ods increasing in length from 5-7, this species, .4. var. longiconii^ typica, A. palm of propodus bearing a pair of pro.ximal longicornis var. nodosa, and .4. longicornis grasping .<]>ines. var. f-pinijem. Holmes (1905) cites another Distribution;—Amoy, China (type lo­ variety, .4. longiconiifi var. spinosissima, cality! ; Fremantle, Australia; Syndey, Au.s- corresponding to Aegina spinosissima Stimp- tralia tfi/h : Miss Joan Stein berg i : New son. From the few specimens examined a Guinea; Oahu. Hawaii; Port Aransas, clinical situation is evident; and until fur­ Texas: "^'irginia Const; South Arabian ther growth and ecological data can be ob­ Coa.sponges, and biyozoans in the spots of short opposite lines. Body with a Gloucester Point area. few scattering reddish-bro^Ti spots.” Distribution :—From Port Aransas, Material examined:—Fremantle Harbor, Aus­ Te.xas to Alligator Harbor, Florida; Woods tralia; Xumerous specimen.^. W AM no. 52/151— Hole, Massachusetts to Frying Pan Shoals, 47. Collected by A. M . Doiigla.=. Fob. 12, 1&47. North Carolina. ------H , 12. WAM no. 7188. Southwestern Hamberg E.xped. Sta, 36. R e m a rk s:— Caprella geometrica may be ------1 £ , 1 5 . WAM no. 222—63. Collected by a junior synonym of Caprella acutifrons or R. Howlett on fouling board.s. June 27, 1959. Caprella penantis occurring along the coast ------2 . 4 ; . WAM no. 22.5—63. June 6, 1959. of England. However, the few specimen? ------H i , 7 9 . WAM no. 10362/3. Collected that I have examined from the English by L. Pon-ell. June 1923. Gloucester Point, Virginia: Xumerous speci­ Coast differ in the shape and setation of gn. mens. Collected Vjv the author. -Vug. 1963 to Feb. 2 anfl in the shape of the cephalic projection. 1964. ' For the present, I agree with Holmes' Mar del Plata, Argentina: 26 5, 119. Collected (1905) derision to .separate C. geometrica by E. Boschi on asridians. Jan. 23. 1961. from C. acutifrons. A revision of the ‘'acuti­ frons” varieties now in progress may clarify Caprella geometrica Say, 1818 the situation. Steinberg and Dougherty (1957) state (fig, lc,g, 2a-f) that Say’s description does not mention the S y n o n y m y :— Caprella geometrica Sav, di.atal rectangular projection on gn. 2. Since 1818. p. 390.— Bate. 1862, p. 357.— Holmes, Say’s “obtuse tooth” is apparently the same 1905, p. .526.— Kunkel, 1918, p. 178. as their “distal rectangular projection”, Cnprdla acutifrons var. carolinensis there is no rea.son to separate C. carolinensis Mayer, 1890, p. 56. from this .species. Caprella acutifrons var. Virginia Mayer, Mayer’s C. acutifrons var. Virginia and 1890, p. 56. C. acutifrons var. carolinensis represent Fig. 2. a-f. CapreUa geometrica, 3 gn. 2. Total length of individual, a. 5 mm, b. 6 mm, c. 7 mm, d. 8 mm, e. 9 mm, f. 10 mm. g-k. Paracapreila lenuis, S gn. 2. Total length of in­ dividual, g. 3 mm, h. 4 mm, i, 5 mm, j. 6 mm, k. 7 mm. All scales arc 1 mm.

!y individual variations within this spe- M y observations indicate that this was t'. The degree of variability is very pro- the most abundant caprellid in Chesapeake unced in the growth of gn. 2 as evidenced Ray during the period from Nov. 1962 to Figure 2a-f. I tlierefore believe that these Mar. 1964. It commonly occurs together lieties can be considered only infrasub- with C. cquilibra and P. tenuis. cific variations, not worthy of specific or Material examined:—Woods Hole, Massachu­ 'specific rank. setts; 20+ specimens. USXM no. 11728. U. S. Fish. specimens from nortii of Cape Cod con- Comm. 1886. u ntly show a small size range. I have not ------50+ specimens. U. S. Fish. Comm. luded this area within the range of this ------13. USNM no. 106758. Collected by ' I’ies becau.se of tliis apparent niorphologi- Reid. ------4 3 ,3 9 . AMNH no. 5462. .separation. Ovigcrous females as small ------21 3 , 10 9 . AMNH no. 1747. Collected at 4 mm are present in siimples from the Ram Island. Aug. 30. 1909. ilf of St. Lawrence and Nova Scotia and ------1 3 . A M X H no. 5369. largest males are approximately 7 mm. Vinyard Haven, Massachusetts; Numerous spec­ lividuals as small as 7 mm have the typi- imens. A M N H no. 5372. Collect<'d at Lagoon Pond. Aug. 23, 1909. i adult gn. 2. Assuming that adult males Wepccket Island, Massachusetts; Numerous present in the material that I have ex- specimens, mostly juv. USNM no. 14169. Collected ined, this difference would certainly be on Pcmwria tiarrlla. St'pt. 7, 1882. rthy of subspecific if not specific rank, I Wickford Covr, Wickford, Rhode Island; Nu­ \ e chosen, however, to delay decision of merous specimens. USNM no. 104136. Collected by J. E. Sauaier on rockweed. May 19, 1959. is question until more specimens from Cold Spring, I^ong Island. Now York: Num erous them New Englanri can be examined. specimens. USNM no. 21664. Fire Island, Long Island, New York: 1 juv, F erguson, F . P . and E. R . J ones. 1949. A survey AMNH no. 6982. Summer 1934. of the shore-line fauna of the Norfolk Peninsula. Cherr>'stone Creek, Eastern Shore, Virginia; Am. Midi. Nat. 41(2) ;436-446. [Caprellidae; Numerous specimens. Collected bv P. Chanley. 442] Nov. 15, 1963. ‘ H olmes, S. J. 1905. The Amphipoda of southern Chesapeake Bay, Virginia: Numerous specimens. New England. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish. 24;459-529, Collected by the author, Nov, 1962 to Mar. 1964. pis, 1-13. [Caprellidae; 525-527] Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina: 150+ speci­ K l'Nkel, B. W. 1910. The Amphipoda of Ber­ mens. USNM no. 111283. Collected by C. J. D. muda. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts Set. 16(1);1-116. Behren on the U.S.L.H. Tender “Cypress”. May [Caprellidae; 106-113] 4, 1937. ------. 1918. The Arthrostraca of Connecticut. Alligator Point, Florida; 15. Collected by Dan Bull. Conn. St. Geol. Xat. Hist. Sur. 26:1-261. Shier on colonies of the bryozoan Amathia. Nov. [Caprellidae; 174-181] 12, 1963. M ayer, P. 1890. Die Caprolliden des Golfes von Summary Neapel und der angrenzenden Meers-Abschnitte. Nachtrag zur Monographie derselben. Fauna Three caprellids commonly occur within Flora Golf. Neapel. 17 ;vii-157, pis. 1-7. Chesapeake Bay, Paracaprella temis, Ca------. 1903. Die Caprellidae de Siboga-Expedi- tion. SIBOG.A-Eiped.Zi:l-m, pis. 1-10, prella equilibra, and C. geometrica. Aegi- Sars, G. O. 1895. Amphipoda. An account of the nina longicornis and Heiniaegina minuta are Crustacea of Norway. Christiania and Copen­ found along the coast of Virginia together hagen. 1:1-711, pis. 1-248. [Caprellidae; 644-667, with the above mentioned species. 700-701, pis. 233-239] Deutella abracadabra and Paracaprella Say, T. 1818. An account of the Crustacea of the United States. J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1 (2); shnplex are junior synonyms of P. tenuis. 374-401. [Caprellidae: 390-392] Although complete revision of the ‘'acuti- S hellenberg, a. 1928. Report on the Amphip­ frons” problem is not possible in this paper, oda. Zoological results of the Cambridge Expedi­ the specific name, Caprella geometrica, is tion to the Suez Canal, 1924. Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. 22 (5); 633-692. [Caprellidae; 674-678] assigned to the “acutijrons” form which oc­ S hoemaker, C. R. 1930. The Amphipoda of the curs along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of Cheticamp E.\pedition of 1917. Contr. Can. the United States, thereby suppressing the Biol. Fish. 5(10):221-359. [Caprellidae: 352-354] C. acutijrons varieties carolmensis and Vir­ Stebbing, T. R. R. 1888. Report on the Amphi­ ginia of Mayer (1890) and Steinberg and poda collected by the H.MS. “Challenger” dur­ ing the years 1873-76. Rep. Scient. Results "Chal­ Dougherty’s (1957) decision to designate lenger”. 29 (l);xxxiv-872, (2 ):873-1737. (3): this form C. carolinensis. i-xiii, pis. 1-210. [Caprellidae; 1226-1268, pis. 13^145] LITERATURE CITED ------. 1910. Scientific results of the trawling B ab> ard, K. H. 1916. Contribution to the crusta­ expedition of H.M.C.S. “Thetis". Part V ; Crusta­ cean fauna of South Africa, 5. The Amphipodes. cea, Amphipoda. Mem. Austr. Mus. 4(12); 567­ Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 15; 105-320, pis. 26-28. [Caprel- 658, pis. 42-60. [Caprelhdae; 629-632, 651-654, pi. lidae; 27^285, pi. 28] 60] ------. 1932. Amphipodti. “Discovery" Rep. 5 :1- Steinberg, J. E. and E. C. D ocgherty. 1957. The 326. [Caprellidae; 29^306] skeleton shrimps (Crustacea; Caprellidae) of the B.\te, C . Spence. 1862. Catalogue of the speci­ Gulf of Mexico. Tulane Stud. Zool. 5(11) ;267- mens of amphipodous Crustacea in the collec­ 288. tion of the British Museum. London, pp. iv-399, S cmner, F. B., R. C. O sbcbn, an d L. J. C ole. 1913. 58 pis. [Caprellidaf; 349-365, 382, pis. 54-57] A biological sur\'ey of the waters of Wood.s H ole B kiggs, E. a. 1914 (1915). Notes on Tasmanian and vicinity. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fith. 31:1-860 Caprellidae. Pap. Roy. Soc. Tasmania. pp. 75-80. [Caprellidae; 132-135,656-657] C h e \tieux, E. and L. F ace. 1925. Fauna de W ells, H. W . 1961. The fauna of the oyster France. 9 Amphipodes. Paris, pp. 1-488. [Caprel­ beds, with special reference to the salinity factor. lidae; 433-461] Co w les, R. P. 1930. A biological study of the Ecol. Monogr. 31:239-266. [Caprellidae: 247, 249. offshore waters of Chesapeake Bar. Bull. U. S. 250,251] But. Fisk. 47 (1091) :277-381. [CapreUidae: 350­ W h itte n , H . L., H. F. R osene, and J. W. Hedg- 352] p e th . 1950. The invertebrate fauna of Texas E dmondson, C. H. and G. S. M ansfield. 1948. coast jetties; a preliminary survey. Publ. Inst Hawaiian Caprellidae. Occ. Pap. Bernice P. Mar. Sci. Vnii ->);5»-87, 1 pi, [Caprel­ Bishop Mus. 19 (10) ;201-218. lidae; 77-78]