First report of the
Green Mantis Shrimp Gonodactylellus viridis(Serène, 1954) (Crustacea:Stomatopoda) from seagrass habitat of the South
Andaman coast, India
R. Jayabarathi1, I. Anandavelu 2 & G. Padmavati 3
1,2,3 Department of Ocean Studies
and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, BrookshabadCampus, P.Bag.No: 01, Chakkargaon,
Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 744112, India
1 arjayabarathi@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 ianandavelu@gmail.com,
3 padma190@rediffmail.com
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3448.4517-20 | ZooBank:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0BB645A9-8034-459B-BB20-EF1A9E465370
Editor: C. Raghunathan,
Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Date of
publication: 26 June 2013 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms # o3448 | Received 20 December 2012 | Final
received 02 April 2013 | Finally accepted 03 May 2013
Citation: Jayabarathi,
R., I. Anandavelu & G. Padmavati(2013). First report of the Green Mantis Shrimp Gonodactylellus viridis (Serène, 1954)
(Crustacea: Stomatopoda)
from seagrass habitat of the South Andaman coast,
India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(10): 4517–4520; doi:10.11609/JoTT.o3448.4517-20
Copyright: © Jayabarathiet al. 2013. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTTallows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Funding: Pondicherry University.
Competing Interest: None.
Acknowledgements: The
authors are grateful to Dr. P.M. Mohan, Head of the Department of Ocean Studies
and Marine Biology and authorities of Pondicherry University for the facility
provided. We thank to Dr. C. Raghunathan, Scientist-in-Charge, ZSI, ANRC, Port Blair and
Mr. C.R. Sreeraj, PhD Scholar, ZSI, ANRC, Port Blair
for their suggestions, co-operation and help.
The Andaman and Nicobar
archipelago is known to host a high diversity of marine flora and fauna. While the biodiversity of this region
has been under exploration relatively few studies have focused on seagrass (Das 1996; Kannan et al.
1999; Thangaradjou et al. 2010). Seagrass bed
structure is an important component of tropical and temperate marine
ecosystems. They have a key
ecological function in the intertidal region (Terrados& Duarte 2000), and are known to support a rich assemblage of associated
fauna (Orth et al. 1984). Recently, Jayabarathiet al. (2012) documented the seagrass associated meiofauna from South Andaman. In addition, a contradicting hypothesis
states that predation intensity is greater near seagrassbeds, in which potential predators are more abundant (Virnstenet al. 1983; Summerson & Peterson 1984).
The present report deals with
a stomatopod species Gonodactylellus viridis found on seagrasspatches of Thalassia hemprichii during the study of seagrass habitats of South
Andaman. Stomatopodcrustaceans are benthic marine predators (Cheroske et
al. 2009) and raptorial carnivores found in shallow tropical or subtropical
marine environment. In recent
decades this species has been reported from Vietnam, western Andaman Sea of
Malaysia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Japan, the Philippines and Australia (Ahyong 2001). The bibliographic sources emphasize that gonodactyloidsappear to be quite abundant on coral reef habitats (Moosa& Erdmann 1994; Moosa 2000) and collected by
plankton net (Ahyong 2001). The present finding is of a Green Mantis
Shrimp from seagrass habitat.
Materials and Methods
Sampling on seagrass patches of Thalassia hemprichii in the intertidal region of Burmanallah (11033’N & 92043’E),
South Andaman (Image 1) during low tide on 14 November 2012 revealed the
presence of one species of stomatopod crustacea. The
specimen was collected using forceps and immediately transferred into a
polythene bag and carried to a laboratory for identification. The species was distinctive for its
striking green coloration (Image 2A) identified by studying the morphological
characteristics and also compared with the previous reports of Erdmann &
Manning (1998), Manning (1998), Ahyong (2001) and Ahyong & Moosa (2004). After confirmation, the reference
specimen was deposited in the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological
Survey of India (ZSI/ANRC 8134), Port Blair.
Abbreviations for
morphological terminology used follows Manning (1998) and Ahyong(2001). It includes: Total length (TL) in millimeters (mm) measured along the
midline from the tip of the rostrum to the apices of the submedianteeth, abdominal somite (AS), thoracic somite (TS), median (MD), submedian (SM), intermediate (IM), lateral (LT); and
marginal (MG). The
photographs of identifying characteristics were produced by focusing under
stereo zoom microscope (SMZ 1500) with Nikon COOLPIX 8400.
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Stomatopoda Latreille, 1817
Super Family Gonodactyloidea Giesbrecht, 1910
Family Gonodactylidae Giesbrecht, 1910
Genus GonodactylellusManning, 1995
Speciesviridis (Serène,
1954)
Materials examined: ZSI/ANRC 8134, 14.xi.2012, female (TL 55mm) (Image 2B), Seagrass patch, Burmanallah (11033’N
& 92043’E), South Andaman, India (Image 1), coll. R. Jayabarathi and I. Anandavelu.
Common name: Green Mantis Shrimp.
Family characteristics: Dactylus of raptorial claw inflated
basally, strongly buttressed and unarmed on inner margin and telson with median crania.
Species description: Corneas aresubcylindrical, ocular scales separate and
rounded. Rostral plate with anterolateral angles rounded and anterior
margins transverse (Image 3A). Dactylus of raptorial claw inflated basally, strongly
buttressed and unarmed on inner margin (Image 3E). Lateral process of TS6 rounded, about as
broad as that of TS7. AS 1-5 are
without posterolateral spine. AS6 with normal complement of carinae, each armed with short spinule.
Telson broader than long, dorsal
surface with distinct carinae without numerous spines
or spinules, at most with mid-dorsal carinae armed posteriorly (Image 3B). Accessory median carinaeshort, not extending anteriorly beyond posterior third of median carina,
unarmed posteriorly. Anterior submedian carina inflated but relatively straight, unarmed
posteriorly. TelsonSM teeth are more conspicuous than the IM teeth, with a rounded emargination between the teeth. SM teeth are with moveable apices and 14
SM denticles (Image 3D). SM carinae are
distinct, unarmed. IM teeth are
distinct; with apices extending posteriorly well beyond the intermediate denticles. Emargination between SM and IM teeth are acute. Lateral marginal teethappressed to intermediate teeth. Proximal segment of uropod with fixed
distal spine ventrally, inner margin of exopodasetose,
outer margin with 11 movable spines. The entire margins of distal segment are setose,
setae arranged in a single row (Image 3C).
Color and Habitat: Conspicuous green color when
live. Color faded with traces of green marbling on the telsonand uropods and with rows of small dark green spots
on posterior margin of thoracic and abdominal somitesafter preserving with 4% formaldehyde (Images 2A & B). Shallow water amongst seagrass patches of intertidal region.
Distribution: Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Japan, the Philippines, New Caledonia, Samoan, Australia (Ahyong2001) and now from India (Andaman Islands).
Discussion
The Andaman and Nicobar
Islands are located southeast of peninsular India. They consist of a sequence of about 572
islands, islets, and rocks extending along a north-south direction between 140N
and 6.50N latitude in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal
(Image 1). The archipelago has a
total coastal line of about 1912km. (ANDFISH 2006). Because of the large extent of its coast
with a wide variety of habitats, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a diverse
marine fauna. In the recent epoch
numerous fresh reports were produced from this region (Sreerajet al. 2012). Gonodactylellus viridis reported now is almost the first field
observation from the seagrass habitat of Andaman
Islands. The high diversity of
associated fauna (Jayabarathi et al. 2012) makes the seagrass habitat of great interest for further ecological
studies. However, knowledge of the stomatopod crustacea of this
region has been largely unsatisfactory, therefore, revisions are important to
determine the present day biodiversity of this archipelago. The present findings serve as a
preliminary baseline thus important in enhancing this field for future
studies. Current studies reveal
that Andaman and Nicobar Islands manifest biodiversity of extraordinary range
and thorough documentation of marine biodiversity is essential in understanding
the significance of the island ecosystem.
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