Calyptraeotheres garthi

Calyptraeotheres garthi is a species of pea crab in the family Pinnotheridae.[2] It is found in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and is a parasitic castrator of the slipper limpet Crepidula cachimilla.

Calyptraeotheres garthi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Pinnotheridae
Genus: Calyptraeotheres
Species:
C. garthi
Binomial name
Calyptraeotheres garthi
(Fenucci, 1975)
Synonyms[1]

Pinnotheres garthi Fenucci, 1975

Taxonomy

When Jorge L. Fenucci originally encountered C. garthi, he first mistook it for the related C. politus (then placed in Pinnotheres).[1] A few years later, he described the species under Pinnotheres as P. garthi (not "Fabia garthi", as cited in WoRMS).[2][3]

When Ernesto Campos described his new genus Calyptraeotheres for a species then still placed in Fabia, he noted that both P. politus (i.e. C. politus) and P. garthi were also likely to belong to his new genus.[4] He effected the transfer of these species in 1999.[1]

Description

The female Calyptraeotheres garthi exhibits certain adaptations that are probably associated with its parasitic way of life. The invasive stage has a compact body shape, a hard carapace and large setae (bristles) on its swimming legs. At its next moult it loses these traits and becomes soft bodied with a rounded carapace and slender legs and claws. After several more moults it regains its hard carapace and more robust legs and claws. The male does not go through any soft-bodied stages.[5]

Distribution

Calyptraeotheres garthi is native to the waters off the coast of Argentina,[6] where its host slipper limpet lives at depths of between 10 and 20 m (33 and 66 ft).[7]

Ecology

Calyptraeotheres garthi is a parasitic castrator: it inhabits the brood chamber of the slipper limpet Crepidula cachimilla. Its host is a filter feeder, filtering phytoplankton from the water with the help of a string of mucus round the edges of its gills, and it is this green, plankton-laden mucus that the pea crab eats.[6] The presence of the pea crab reduces the amount of food available to the slipper limpet. While the crab is present, the slipper limpet does not breed, and is effectively castrated.[8] On removal of the pea crab, breeding in the slipper limpet resumes. It is unclear whether the cessation of breeding in the presence of the crab is due to a reduction in nutrients available to the slipper limpet, or to some other mechanism such as "steric interference" where castration occurs because the parasite physically prevents host reproduction in some way.[8]

The life cycle of this crab has been studied, and involves five zoeal larval stages and one postlarval stage, all of which are free-living. The infective stage is probably the first instar juvenile.[5]

References
  1. Campos, Ernesto (1999). "Inclusion of the austral species Pinnotheres politus (Smith, 1869) and Pinnotheres garthi Fenucci, 1975 within the genus Calyptraeotheres Campos, 1990 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Pinnotheridae)". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 112 (3): 536540. BHL page 34590185.
  2. Davie, Peter (2009). "Calyptraeotheres garthi (Fenucci, 1975)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  3. Fenucci, J.L. (1975). "Los cangrejos de la familia Pinnotheridae del litoral argentino (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura)". Physis. Sección A. Los Océanos y Sus Organismos. 34 (88): 165–184, 167.
  4. Campos, Ernesto (1990). "Calyptraeotheres, a new genus of Pinnotheridae for the limpet crab Fabia granti Glassell, 1933 (Crustacea, Brachyura)". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 103 (2): 364–371. BHL page 34591821.
  5. Baeza, JA; Ocampo, EH & Luppi, TA (2018). "The life cycle of symbiotic crustaceans: a primer". In Wellborn, Gary A. & Thiel, Martin (eds.). Life Histories. The Natural History of the Crustacea. 5. Oxford University Press. pp. 379–380. ISBN 978-0-19-062027-1.
  6. Leung, Tommy (9 October 2014). "Calyptraeotheres garthi". Parasite of the day. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  7. Welch, John J. & Joly, Simon (19 January 2010). "The "Island Rule" and deep-sea gastropods: re-examining the evidence". PLOS ONE. 5 (1): e8776. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...5.8776W. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.356.3494. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776. PMC 2808249. PMID 20098740.
  8. Ocampo, Emiliano H.; Nuñez, Jesús D.; Cledón, Maximiliano & Baeza, J. Antonio (2014). "Parasitic castration in slipper limpets infested by the symbiotic crab Calyptraeotheres garthi". Marine Biology. 161 (9): 2107–2120. doi:10.1007/s00227-014-2490-y. S2CID 84155537.
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