Publicly accessible
URL: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/collections.html
copyright 1958, by Victoria University of Wellington
All unambiguous end-of-line hyphens have been removed and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line, except in the case of those words that break over a page.
Some keywords in the header are a local Electronic Text Collection scheme to aid in establishing analytical groupings.
Publication of this paper has been assisted by a grant from the Publications Fund Victoria University of Wellington.
The following species of Pycnogonida are recorded from Cook Strait: Nymphon longicoxa Hoek, Nymphon maoriana n.sp., Pallenopsis obliqua (Thomson) and Pallenopsis mauii n.sp. An immature specimen of Pallenopsis is also recorded as a bathypelagic form from 500–600 fathoms. The specimen is described but not named.
The pycnogonid fauna of New Zealand is not well known, and as there are no records of these animals from the Cook Strait region the present paper contributes a little to our knowledge. Through the kindness of Professor L. R. Richardson a small, but interesting collection of Pycnogonida, mostly from deep water, has been made available to the author.
It is perhaps remarkable that the five species represented in the collection should be referable to two genera, and that other forms generally considered to be characteristic of deep water should be absent. It may be that these forms will turn up later, as Fage (Colossendeis, typically a deep water genus, from other deep water localities off the Now Zealand coast.
The following species are recorded here: —
Nymphon longicoxa Hoek,
Material: Collection No. VUZ. 58; Stn. FOOR. South of Cape Palliser. 42° 7ʹ S; 174° 57ʹ E;
Although the only specimen of this species in the collection lacks seven legs and the distal joints of the third left leg there is no doubt as to its identity. The specimen agrees with Gordon's (
Distribution: This species has been recorded only twice before; by Hoek (
Material: Off Kahu Rocks, Wellington East Coast; "from Kelp holdfast", 20–30 fathoms;
Cook Strait, trawled in approximately 40 fathoms; November,
Off D'Urville Island (Western end of Cook Strait): in shell with Eupagurus novaezelandiae Coll. G. M. Thomson; no date; 1 ovigerous male.
Trunk slender, segmented, without spines, lateral processes separated at ends by about their own width, proboscis slightly longer than neck from above, cylindrical, tapering slightly towards tip. Neck short. Ocular tubercle low, rounded above, arises just anterior to first lateral processes; the pigmentation of the eyes appears very variable, they are heavily pigmented in some specimens and barely discernible in others.
Abdomen reaches just beyond the last lateral processes, elevated at an angle of about 30°.
Chelifore scape widening slightly towards the distal end, scape equal in length to chela. immovable finger equal in length to palm, dactylus slightly longer. Immovable finger armed with 24 spinules, dactylus with 38. The only spines on the chela are the single spines at the base of each finger.
Palp of 5 segments, the first the shortest, and the second the longest. In the holotype the proportions are 1:8.2:5:4.2:3.3.
Oviger (holotype-female) terminal claw a little shorter than the tenth segment, and bearing 11 spinules. Total number of denticulate spines 36 (12 + 8 + 8 + 8). Fourth, fifth and sixth segments nearly straight and in the proportion 1.6:2:1. In the male paratypes the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments of the oviger are markedly curved: the effect of this is to twist the oviger like a cork screw.
Third leg very slender, with sparse very fine setae, second coxa longer than the sum of the other two; second tibia the longest joint, almost half as long again as the femur. Tarsus 3/5 the length of the propodus, claw half as long as the propodus, auxiliaries well developed (3/8 length of claw); basal spines of propodus few and feeble (Fig. 3). The femora of the females are much stouter than those of the males.
Measurements (in mm. holotype first followed by male paratype in brackets).
Length proboscis 1.1 (0.8), width of proboscis 0.54 (0.5), total length (tip proboscis to tip of abdomen) 3.8 (3.0), length of cephalon 1.33 (1.1), width of cephalon 1.33 (1.1), length of chelifore scape 1.25 (1.0), width across second lateral processes 1.33 (1.1), length of abdomen 0.58 (0.4).
Third leg: First coxa 0.45 (0.4). second coxa 1.0 (1.3), third coxa 0.45 (0.4), femur 2.5 (2.35). first tibia 3.25 (2.68). second tibia 4.25 (3.15), tarsus 0.75 (0.63). propodus 1.15 (1.1). claw 0.8 (0.16). auxilliaries 0.3 (0.16).
The genital apertures in the female are situated on slight eminences at the distal ends of the second coxae of all legs, but in the males these apertures are restricted to a similar position on the third and fourth pairs of legs. The apertures are much smaller in the males. There appears to be a considerable range of variation in the
It is with some hesitation that I propose this further addition to the already unwieldy genus Nymphon, but whilst this species has no remarkable features, the combination of the features it possesses seems to separate it from other rather similar species. N. maoriana falls amongst those species placed in "Group I" by Gordon (N. subtile Loman, but is distinguished from this species by the closer spacing of the lateral processes and the greater number of spinules on the fingers of the chelae.
Material: Collection No. VUZ. 48; Stn. BOL. Cook Strait, 41° 31ʹ 30ʺ S; 174° 48ʹ E;
VUZ. 49; Stn. BOL; Cook Strait, 41° 31ʹ 30ʺ S; 174° 48ʹ E;
VUZ. 55; Stn. GUJ. Off Cape Palliser, 41° 41ʹ S; 175° 13ʹ E;
VUZ. 99; Stn. DOJ. Off Palliser Bay, 41° 34ʹ 31ʺ S; 174° 43ʹ 30ʺ E;
VUZ. 100; Stn. FOJ. Off Palliser Bay, 40° 36ʹ S; 174° 44ʹ E;
Thomson's material was dredged in Lyttelton Harbour (depth unstated); that described by Stock (
Stock (
Material: Collection No. VUZ. 96; Stn. BOQ. Off Palliser Bay, 41° 31ʹ S; 174° 55ʹ E;
VUZ. 75; Stn. KOP. Off Palliser Bay, 40° 45ʹ S; 174° 53ʹ E;
Trunk slender, smooth, without spines, clearly segmented, lateral processes separated by their own width distally, less proximally; length of cephalon equal to length of last three segments; cephalon with a slight constriction between the bases of the palps and the first lateral processes, and produced anteriorly over the base of the proboscis. Ocular tubercle conical, rounded at tip, height greater than diameter at base; four eyes.
Proboscis long, cylindrical, with a slight median swelling, ventral surface of tip of proboscis covered with fine spines in female, fewer spines in male.
Abdomen fusiform with a slight median constriction, rises from trunk at an angle of 35–40°; reaches beyond the end of the first coxa of the last leg.
Chelifore scape of male distinctly 2-jointed, suture between joints oblique, joints swollen at suture; female scape apparently composed of one segment, with three fine hairs where one would expect to find the suture. Fingers of chelae at right angles to the proboscis; immovable finger slightly longer than dactylus, tips cross when chela is closed. A number of fine irregular denticulations are found on the middle of the cutting edge of the dactylus. Fingers of the chela shorter than the palm. Fingers of male chela not as well developed as in female. A prominent spiny cushion is found at the base of the dactylus in the female but not in the male.
Palp a single, short, bluntly pyramid-like joint, slightly longer in male than in female.
Oviger 10-jointed in both sexes, as is usual in the genus this limb is better developed in the male than in the female. Fourth joint the longest, and in the male this bears a slight lateral swelling, joints 7–9 with lateral setae on their inner margins. The terminal joint of the male bears five spines. The length of joints in mm. in male and female are given below:
Third Leg long, slender, sparsely clothed with fine hairs; the first coxa is half as long as the third, which is half as long as the second. Femur and first tibia of equal length; femoral cement glands of male with ducts a little shorter than width of femur, inserted at 5/9ths of femoral length; second tibia is the longest joint, and relatively longer in female than in male. Tarsus very short with a group of stout spines on the ventro distal extremity, propodus small, all basal spines stronger in the male than in the female, where there are four well developed basal spines and a number of smaller spines inserted distally to these; terminal claw half as long as propodus; auxilliary claws well developed.
Genital apertures are placed on small swellings on the ventral sides of the distal portions of all second coxae in the female, but only on the third and fourth in the male.
Measurements (in mm, holotype first followed by female paratype in brackets).
Length proboscis 4.0 (5.6), width proboscis 1.1 (1.5), length cephalon 3.6 (3.5), width cephalon 3.9 (4.6), length abdomen 2.2 (2.7), total length 11.2 (11.7), width second lateral processes 4.4 (4.1), length chelifore scape 4.4 (4.5).
Third leg of holotype, and fourth leg of paratype (both third legs of paratype damaged): first coxa 1.1 (1.2), second coxa 4.1 (4.9), third coxa 1.95 (2.2), femur 10.0 (15.7), first tibia 11.5 (15.7), second tibia 15.6 (21.3), tarsus 0.55 (0.55), propodus 2.2 (2.2), claw 1.1 (1.1).
I have some slight doubt as to whether the female specimen is in fact of the same species as the male described here or of another very similar and undescribed species. This matter cannot be taken any further on the material at present available. The lateral swelling on the fourth oviger segment of the male is reminiscent of the subgenus Pallenopsodon Stock (Pallenopsis s. str. I name this fine species after the mythical Maori figure Maui, who is said to have fished up the North Island of New Zealand, and was therefore probably the first man to have fished in Cook Strait.
Material: Collection No. VUZ. 85; Stn. CUK. South of Cape Palliser. 41° 47ʹ S; 175° 02ʹ E;
Trunk distinctly segmented, without spines or setae, rather slender, lateral processes separated by about half their own diameter; cephalic segment almost equal in length to the other three segments, produced a considerable distance over the base of the proboscis. Height of ocular tubercle equal to the diameter of the tubercle at the base, rounded above, four eyes with a pair of rounded eminences on the dorsal surface. (Fig. 20.)
Proboscis cylindrical, uniform diameter throughout its length.
Abdomen long, fusiform, reaching to the middle of the second coxa of the fourth leg; rises at an angle of 30° from the trunk.
Chelifore short, stout, scape distinctly two segmented, the first slightly shorter than the second, chela at right angles to scape, fingers longer than palm, when closed the slender tips of the fingers cross.
Palp a small papilla between the bases of the chelifore and oviger.
Oviger very small, of five segments, obviously immature.
Third leg long, slender, coxae subequal, femur and first tibia equal and longer than second tibia, tarsus very short, propodus rather bulbous with a lateral row of small spines, no basal spines, terminal claw half as long as propodus. Auxiliary claws absent.
Measurements (in mm). Length proboscis 1.25, width proboscis 0.5, length cephalon 1.2, width cephalon 0.9, total length 2.4, width second lateral process 1.25, length abdomen 0.65.
Third leg: First coxa 0.5, second coxa 0.6, third coxa 0.7, femur 2.0, first tibia 2.0, second tibia 1.5, tarsus and propodus 1.0, claw 0.5.
The specimen is immature, the ovigers consist of only five segments, and the genital apertures appear to be absent. The interest of the specimen lies in the fact that it was taken in a plankton tow net at 600 fathoms. As the net used was of the open type this specimen could have been taken at a lesser depth, but as the water in the vicinity of this station is about 800 fathoms deep there is little likelihood of its being picked up off the bottom. Gordon (Pallenopsis" (= Pallenopsis calcanea Stephensen Pallenopsis holti Carpenter = P. tritonis Hoek, taken with a tow net in 382 fathoms off Achill Head, Ireland. Stephensen (P. calcanea from tow nettings; the latter author remarks that it is "evidently a bathypelagic species". The present specimen resembles Gordon's and Stephensen's figures of P. calcanea in the presence of a pair of small tubercles on the dorsal surface of the ocular tubercle, but differs from that species in the chelae, legs, and ovigers. This specimen does not appear to be the juvenile of either of the species of this genus so far recorded from New Zealand.