M.K. Wicksten

Texas A&M University | TAMU · Department of Biology

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.822924/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Marine_Science&id=822924

ABSTRACT The spider crabs Schizophrys dahlak Griffin and Tranter, 1986 and Hyastenus hilgendorfi De Man, 1887 achieve camouflage through encrusting, allowing sessile organisms such as sponges and also masses of detritus to settle on the crabs and concealing them. Other spider crabs are decorators: they deliberately attach pieces of sponges, algae,...

Haustoriid amphipods have received little recent attention and their systematics and phylogenetics are largely unresolved. Some efforts have been made at classifying the family within the broader Amphipoda, but there is persistent incongruence in its placement among different authors and techniques. Furthermore, there exists no phylogenetic hypothe...

A total of 119 species of decapod crustaceans have been reported from depths of 700 m or more in the eastern Pacific. From 1875 to 2000, decapods were caught mostly by trawls and dredges on muddy sea floors. Sampling has not been consistent and has been concentrated in certain geographic areas. Taxonomic confusion and potential misidentifications c...

Two small spider crabs belonging to a species of Platymaia Miers, 1885 (Inachidae) were photographed by video feed from the Nautilus Exploration Program vessel Nautilus at 706 m off American Samoa, Pacific Ocean. Individuals swam by extending and contracting their very long, slender legs, rising above the sea floor by an estimated 2 m. These crabs...

Haustoriid amphipods, despite their ubiquity in coastal sand or mud, have received little recent attention and their systematics and phylogenetics are largely unresolved. Some efforts have been made at classifying the family within the broader Amphipoda, but there is persistent incongruence in its placement among different authors and techniques. F...

Three new species of Lysmata are described, with illustrations and morphological details of previously described species . Lysmata chica of the eastern Pacific is distinguished from L. intermedia of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.Distinct color patterns, ranges and keys to the species are provided.

The deep sea represents the largest and least explored biome on the planet. Despite the iconic status of the Galapagos Islands and being considered one of the most pristine locations on earth, the deep-sea benthic ecosystems of the archipelago are virtually unexplored in comparison to their shallow-water counterparts. In 2015, we embarked on a mult...

Description of new deep-sea caridean from Peru.

Abundance, α diversity, and faunal zonation of infaunal bivalve mollusks were measured along multiple depth transects in the deep northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) covering depths of 213 to 3,732 m. Density decreased exponentially from the shallow continental slope (0.2–1.0 km) down to the abyssal plain depths (3.0–3.7 km). Diversity increased down the...

During 2016–2017, the remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer photographed squat lobsters during expeditions to the central Pacific Ocean. Photographs showed at least five species of chirostyloid lobsters living on anthozoans at 270–3280 m depth. The lobsters usually associated with only one or two host species. Only one chirostyloid lived on an...

Seven species of chirostyloidean squat lobsters are reported from the Galapagos Rift zone and Galapagos platform: Eumunida subsolanus n. sp. (Eumunididae), Heteroptychus galapagos n. sp., H. nautilus n. sp. (Chirostylidae), Uroptychus bellus Faxon, 1893, U. compressus n. sp., U. occidentalis Faxon, 1893 (Chirostylidae), and Sternostylus defensus (B...

Undescribed species of the genus Haustorius Müller, 1775 have long been known to exist in the Gulf of Mexico. These sand-burrowing amphipods are abundant intertidal members of fine sand beaches. Two new species are here described, Haustorius galvezi sp. nov. and Haustorius allardi sp. nov. The range of H. jayneae is extended to Carrabelle Beach, FL...

Originally known as fossils from the Cambrian to the Devonian, the finding of a living monoplacophoran mollusc in 1952 was one of the great zoological discoveries of the twentieth century. Now, over 35 living species have been documented from deep-sea locations around the world, mainly from samples collected with trawls. Encountering these animals...

Diadumene lineata (Actiniaria: Diadumenidae) is a prolific invader of coastal environments around the world. First described from Asia, this sea anemone has only been reported once from the western Gulf of Mexico at Port Aransas, Texas. No subsequent sampling has located this species at this locality. The first record of the reappearance of D. line...

At Physalia Seamount, North Atlantic and West Pioneer Bank, North Central Pacific, the remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer photographed giant pycnogonids of the genus ColossendeisJarzynsky, 1870feeding on cnidarians, a solitary hydroid, and a coronate medusa, respectively. Coupled with previous published reports and recent photographs from An...

A new species of squat lobster, Uroptychus atlanticus, is described on the basis of a female specimen taken at a depth of 713–841 m in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. The new species is readily distinguished from all known species of the genus from the western Atlantic by the very spinose carapace and pereopods, and a transverse row of spines on e...

Using the remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer, we observed a large stylodactylid shrimp resting on a sedimented sea floor at 4826 m in the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. The shrimp was not collected but most closely resembled Bathystylodactylus bathyalis, known previously only from a single broken specimen. Video footage shows the...

Eight species of squat lobsters of the genus Uroptychus are reported from the western Atlantic based on the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, the Smithsonian Institution and Texas A&M University. Uroptychus nitidus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880) is reviewed and redescribed, with a syntype taken at Blake Station 200 off Martiniq...

New records are provided for four species of decapod crustaceans in the eastern Pacific. Hymenopenaeus nereus (Faxon, 1893) was collected further north and further from the coast than previously known. The distribution of Heterocarpus hostilis Faxon, 1893 is extended from off Panama to off Mexico. Parhippolyte cavernicola Wicksten, 1996, previously...

Ingestion of anthropogenic debris can have deleterious effects on sea turtles. To study diet content of sea turtles, four species were opportunistically collected as deceased bycatch over 18 years (1993–2011) from pelagic longline fisheries based in American Samoa and Hawaii (North Pacific between 140°–170°W and 20°S–50°N). Diet contents were analy...

A new squat lobster, Uroptychus marissae, is described based upon two specimens taken associated with the antipatharian Tanacetipathes sp. from the northern Gulf of Mexico, at a depth of about 90 m. It closely resembles U. minutus Benedict, 1902, known only from the type material from off Trinidad. The original description is so brief that an oppor...

The caridean shrimp Bathypalaemonella serratipalma was photographed by a remotely operated vehicle at 1120–2223 m in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The shrimp was living on previously unreported host cnidarians of the families Isididae and Alcyoniidae, and a black coral (Antipatharia), as well as previously reported gorgonian hosts ( Chrysogorgia and...

Gastrotricha Metschnikoff, 1865 is a small phylum of acoelomatic animals common in both marine and freshwater environments. To date, close to 800 species are known from all over the world. The order Macrodasyida Remane, 1925 [Rao & Clausen, 1970] is almost exclusively marine except for the rare genera Marinellina Ruttner-Kolisko, 1955 and Redudasys...

The stalked barnacle Oxynaspis gracilis, the chirostylid squat lobster Uroptychus sp., and the caridean shrimps Periclimenes cf. antipathophilus and Pseudopontonides principis have been collected at 68–124 m by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on banks in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These species inhabited six species of antipatharian hosts. Pseu...

William Stimpson (1860) established Mimulus (Brachyura: Majoidea: Epialtidae), with a single species, Mfoliatus. Rathbun (1894) placed the genus in synonymy with Pugettia Dana, 18951, but subsequent authors have considered Mimulus to be a valid genus. Genetic evidence and re-examination of the morphology indicate that M. foliatus belongs to a clade...

Approximately 325 species of decapod crustaceans are reported from the Californian and Oregonian zoogeographic provinces, a figure that includes all freshwater, estuarine, and marine (intertidal zone to 4000 m) decapods from the area. At least six of these species have not been reported from California since 1921, three species cannot be recognized...

This study aims to describe the epibiota of the spider crab, Schizophrys dahlak with special reference to epizoic diatoms. Specimens were collected from the Suez Canal between autumn 2008 and summer 2009. Macro-epibionts consisted of the tube worm Hydroides elegans, the barnacles Balanus amphitrite and B. eburneus, the bivalve Brachidontes variabil...

A deep-sea trawl survey of the Northern Gulf of Mexico has documented the abundance and diversity of human-generated litter and natural detrital plant material, from the outer margin of the continental shelf out to the Sigsbee abyssal plain. Plastics were the most frequently encountered type of material. Litter and debris were encountered more freq...

The shrimps Neopontonides chacei, Tozeuma serratum and Periclimenes iridescens, a barnacle (Conopea galeata), two species of gastropods (Ovulidae) and the oyster Pteria colymbus live on Leptogorgia spp. in the northern Gulf of Mexico. For each species and related species in the area, we give records and notes on coloration and behaviour.

Geographic records are presented for 24 species of Caridea (Crustacea: Decapoda) along Pacific coast of Mexico, in the East Pacific. New records are presented for Psathyrocaris fragilis Wood-Mason, 1893 (from Peru to Mexico), Periclimenes infraspinis (Rathbun, 1902), Pontonia margarita Smith, 1869, Alpheus cristulifrons Rathbun, 1900, Alpheus umbo...

I observed and obtained video footage of swimming behavior in Metoporhaphis calcarata. The behavior is described and illustrated by tracings of video stills over a one-second interval. The fifth pereiopods do not end in paddles, as do those of crabs in Portunidae, but rather are fringed with pinnate setae. On the sea floor, these crabs can form a “...

This paper reports on a study of the associated epibiota of the spider crab, Hyastenus hilgendorfi (De Man, 1887), inhabiting the Suez Canal. Ten species of macro-epibionts were identified. The barnacle Balanus amphitrite, the tunicate Microcosmus sp., and the tube worm Hydroides elegans were the major epibionts recorded. The carapace was the most...

Global seafloor abundance predictions. Predicted abundance (individual m-2) is in global 1×1 degree grids. Data fields include latitude, longitude, depth, and abundance of each size class. The abundance data are in logarithm scale (base 10). (CSV)

Global seafloor biomass predictions. Predicted biomass (mg C m-2) is in global 1×1 degree grids. Data fields include latitude, longitude, depth, and biomass of each size class. The biomass data are in logarithm scale (base 10). (CSV)

The complete list of references for the “CoML Fresh Biomass Database”. (DOC)

Environmental predictors for Random Forest models. Data were logarithm transformed (base 10) and scaled to between 0 (minimum value) and 1 (maximum value). Detail description of the variable is given in Table 1. Abbreviations: mean = decadal or annual mean; sd = decadal or seasonal standard deviation. (TIFF)

Distribution of mean biomass predictions for (a) bacteria, (b) meiofauna, (c) macrofauna, (d) megafauna, (e) invertebrates, and (f) fishes. The mean biomass was computed from 4 RF simulations. Predictions were smoothed by Inverse Distance Weighting interpolation to 0.1 degree resolution and displayed in logarithm scale (base of 10). (TIF)

Google Earth file for the “CoML fresh biomass database”. (KML)

Mean predictor Importance for abundance of (a) bacteria, (b) meiofauna, (c) macrofauna, and (d) megafauna. The mean ± S.D. (error bar) were calculated from 4 RF simulations. The top 20 most important variables are shown in descending order. Increase of mean square error (IncMSE) indicates the contribution to RF prediction accuracy for that variable...

Coefficient of variation (C.V.) for mean abundance predictions of each size class. The C.V. was computed as S.D./mean * 100% from 4 RF simulations. The abbreviations are: bact = bacteria, meio = meiofauna, macro = macrofauna, mega = megafauna, inv = invertebrates, fis = fishes. (TIFF)

Temporal coverage of primary productivity predictors between years of 1998 and 2007. Color ramp shows the sample size from 0 to 120 months of measurements. Detail description of the variable is given in Table 1. Abbreviations: n = sample size. (TIFF)

Mean predictor Importance for biomass of (a) bacteria, (b) meiofauna, (c) macrofauna, and (d) megafauna. The mean ± S.D. (error bar) were calculated from 4 RF simulations. The top 20 most important variables are shown in descending order. Increase of mean square error (IncMSE) indicates the contribution to RF prediction accuracy for that variable....

Distribution of mean abundance predictions for (a) bacteria, (b) meiofauna, (c) macrofauna, (d) megafauna, (e) invertebrates, and (f) fishes. The mean abundance was computed from 4 RF simulations. Predictions were smoothed by Inverse Distance Weighting interpolation to 0.1 degree resolution and displayed in logarithm scale (base of 10). (TIF)

Coefficient of variation (C.V.) for mean biomass predictions of each size class. The C.V. was computed as S.D./mean * 100% from 4 RF simulations. The abbreviations are: bact = bacteria, meio = meiofauna, macro = macrofauna, mega = megafauna, inv = invertebrates, fis = fishes. (TIFF)

A comprehensive seafloor biomass and abundance database has been constructed from 24 oceanographic institutions worldwide within the Census of Marine Life (CoML) field projects. The machine-learning algorithm, Random Forests, was employed to model and predict seafloor standing stocks from surface primary production, water-column integrated and expo...

Lebbeus carinatus de Saint Laurent, 1984, is a junior homonym of L. carinatus Zarenkov, 1976. Both are deep-sea Pacific species, differing in the dorsal carina of the carapace and epipods of the pereopods. I provide a replacement name for L. carinatus de Saint Laurent, illustrations, and a more complete description. In 1984, Michele de Saint Lauren...

The ontogeny of Belosaepia ungula Gabb, 1860 from the Crockett Formation (Bartonian stage, Eocene) of Texas is documented for growth from embryo to old age. During the last stage of life, much skeletal resorption occurred, resulting in a major change in form of the skeleton. The animal produced a large skeleton (to 180 mm in length and 50 mm in dia...

Macrobenthos of the deep, northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) was sampled with box cores (0.2 m2) along multiple cross-depth transects extending from depths of 200 m to the maximum depth of the basin at 3700 m. Bathy- metric (depth) zonation of the macrofaunal community was documented for 6 major taxa (a total of 957 species) on the basis of shared speci...

A comprehensive seafloor biomass and abundance database has been constructed from 24 oceanographic institutions worldwide within the Census of Marine Life (CoML) field projects. The machine-learning algorithm, Random Forests, was employed to model and predict seafloor standing stocks from surface primary production, water-column integrated and expo...

To facilitate submissions to the Journal of Crustacean Biology, we offer guidelines to provide some structure and advice to potential authors. Science is intrinsically fascinating, but scientists need to present their results in a way that conveys that fascination. Above all, JCB seeks submissions of interesting and readable papers with a strong ev...

A budget of the standing stocks and cycling of organic carbon associated with the sea floor has been generated for seven sites across a 3-km depth gradient in the NE Gulf of Mexico, based on a series of reports by co-authors on specific biotic groups or processes. The standing stocks measured at each site were bacteria, Foraminifera, metazoan meiof...

A cladistic analysis of 22 species of Synalpheus, represented primarily by species of the Paulsoni species group from the American Pacific and selected species from the Gambarelloides, Neomeris, Brevicarpus, and Biunguiculatus species groups was undertaken, based on 51 morphological characters. The Paulsoni species group proved to be paraphyletic,...

A new ampeliscid species (Amphipoda, Gammaridea) was recovered in high densities from a depth of about 480 m at the Mississippi Canyon (28 32' N, 89 49' W). Ampelisca mississippiana is described and illustrated based on specimens collected from the head of the canyon, where the species formed an ampeliscid mat with average densities of 12,000 ind....

A new ampeliscid species (Amphipoda, Gammaridea) was recovered in high densities from a depth of about 480 m at the Mississippi Canyon (28 32' N, 89 49' W). Ampelisca mississippiana is described and illustrated based on specimens collected from the head of the canyon, where the species formed an ampeliscid mat with average densities of 12,000 ind....

Soliman, Yousria, Wicksten, Mary (2007): Ampelisca mississippiana: a new species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Gammaridea) from the Mississippi Canyon (Northern Gulf of Mexico). Zootaxa 1389: 45-54, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.175193

At least 25 species of oplophorid shrimp have been collected in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Of these, 21 are pelagic and four commonly are found in samples taken at or near the sea floor. Acanthephyra pelagica and Heterogenys microphthalma are reported for the first time from the Gulf of Mexico. Acanthephyra acutifrons, A. stylorostratis,...

Occurrence of 130 species of decapod crustaceans was compared between the continental slope (200–2500 m) and the abyssal plain (2500–3840 m) of the Gulf of Mexico. We compiled records of these species from published literature and from the crustacean catalogue of the Marine Invertebrate Collection of Texas A&M University. Each species was scored as...

We compared morphological features in 122 specimens of the Synalpheus townsendi species complex from the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and eastern Pacific. Our objectives were to examine the taxonomy of S. townsendi townsendi, S. t. mexicanus, S. t. brevispinis and S. t. peruvianus, which we felt have not been appropriately described and to reconsider...

Since 1985, new sampling and reexamination of existing specimens have resulted in the finding of more than 25 additional decapod crustacean species at the Flower Gardens Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Of the 106 species of decapods that inhabit the Sanctuary, the predominant groups are the families Alpheidae, Palaemonidae, Paguridae, Diogenidae,...

Four specimens of shrimp of the family Stylodactylidae were collected at two stations off Baja California, Mexico, and California, U.S.A. These are the first specimens of the family reported from the eastern Pacific. The shrimp are described as a new species, Bathystylodactylus echinus. The species can be recognized by the following features: rostr...

Abstract All known specimens of the presumed extinct freshwater shrimp species Syncaris pasadenae, formerly known from the Los Angeles River and other lowland stream sites in southern California, were examined. Existing specimens are housed in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California Academy of Sciences, or U.S. National Museum...

A. new snapping shrimp, Alpheus hortensis, n. sp., of the A. macrocheles species group is described from the northern Gulf of Mexico. The new species most closely resembles A. crockeri, but differs from the latter in having shorter fingers of the minor chela, lacking a spine overhanging the articulation of the dactylus of the minor chela, and havin...

Epibiotic growth was found on several specimens of the shrimp, Lysmata wurdemanni collected along a rocky groin in Galveston, Texas. Bryozoan (Membranipora sp.) and peritrich ciliate (family Epistylididae) colonies were found on a few individuals, while the barnacle, Balanus improvisus was encrusted upon most of the fouled shrimp. The majority of b...

A new caridean shrimp, Thor cocoensis, from the eastern Pacific, is described based on specimens from Isla del Coco, Costa Rica and Islas Marchena and Santa Fé, Gálapagos. This very small shrimp resembles T. cordelli Wicksten, but lacks a supraorbital spine and has one or two, not three, dorsal spine on the rostrum. There are three or four pairs of...

We review the shrimp specimens belonging to the subfamily Benthesicyminae deposited in the reference collections of the Museo del Mar of the Arturo Prat University at Iquique, Chile. Eight species are registered, six of which are new reports for southeastern Pacific waters.

Lysmata gracilirostris is described from the tropical eastern Pacific. The species can be differentiated from related species by the length of the rostrum, the absence of an accessory branch on the inner flagellum of the antennule, and the long pereopods. The generic placement of this species is discussed in detail. Se describe Lysmata gracilirostr...