Rodrigo Johnsson

The Association of Two Gall Crabs (Brachyura: Cryptochiridae) with the Reef-building Coral Siderastrea stellata Verrill, 1868

The family Cryptochiridae includes a small group of cryptic crabs that inhabit cavities in scleractinian corals. They are represented in Brazil by two species. Troglocarcinus corallicola, found from Maranhão to Bahia states and that occurs in many species of the coral families Mussidae, Faviidae, Caryophillidae and Siderastreidae. Opecarcinus hypostegus, reported from the state of Pernambuco, is mainly associated with Agaricia fragilis. The range of O. hypostegus is extended to Rio Grande do Norte and Alagoas states. Males are usually smaller than females, and couples may be eventually found sharing cavities. Ovigerous females and males of O. hypostegus are recorded for the first time inhabiting adjoining cavities on colonies of Siderastrea stellata, an endemic reef coral widespread along the Brazilian littoral.

Cnidaria, Scleractinia, Siderastreidae, Siderastrea siderea (Ellis and Solander, 1786): Hartt Expedition and the first record of a Caribbean siderastreid in tropical Southwestern Atlantic

Samples of Siderastrea collected by the geologist C. F. Hartt during expedition to Brazil (19th century), and deposited at the National Museum of the Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, have been re-examined. Taxonomical analyses resulted in the identification of a colony of S. siderea from offshore northern Bahia state. Following recent studies, the occurrence of Caribbean siderastreids to western South Atlantic provides new criteria to assess intra- and interpopulational morphological variation of the endemic S. stellata , refuting historical trends of synonymizations possibly biased by long-term taxonomical misunderstandings.

Mesozooplankton and Ichthyoplankton composition in two tropical estuaries of Bahia, Brazil

The objective of this study was to describe the composition of two mesozooplankton and ichthyoplankton estuarine communities in Jandaira, Bahia (Tabatinga River), impacted by a shrimp farm; and in Conde, Bahia (Itapicuru River), a pristine estuary. Samples were collected through horizontal hauls using a net (200 μm mesh size), coupled to a flowmeter, during the ebbing and flooding tides in April, August and December, 2007. In the Tabatinga and Itapicuru Rivers 76 and 92 taxa were registered. The most abundant groups were Pseudodiaptomus richardii and Disco sp. Acartia lilljeborgi was also dominant at Tabatinga, while Temora sp. and decapod larvae were predominant in Itapicuru River, which also presented higher densities for most planktonic taxa, particularly fish larvae. A descriptive analysis of the main taxa´s spatial distribution and new geographical records of Disco sp., P. richardi , Pontellopsis villosa , Macrosetella gracilis , Microsetella rosea , Gonyiopsillus brasiliensis , Agetus flaccus and Ergasilus caraguatatubensis were presented.

Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda, Eulimidae, Annulobalcis aurisflamma Simone and Martins, 1995: first record to northeastern Brazil

The current article provides the first record of Annulobalcis aurisflamma Simone and Martins, 1995 outside Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Herein we extend its geographical distribution to northeastern Brazil.

Effects of habitat structure on the epifaunal community in Mussismilia corals: does coral morphology influence the richness and abundance of associated crustacean fauna?

AbstractCoral habitat structures increase abundance and richness of organisms by providing niches, easy access to resources and refuge from predators. Corals harbor a great variety of animals; the variation in coral species morphology contributes to the heterogeneity and complexity of habitat types. In this report, we studied the richness and abundance of crustaceans (Decapoda, Copepoda, Peracarida and Ostracoda) associated with three species of Mussismilia exhibiting different growth morphologies, in two different coral reefs of the Bahia state (Caramuanas and Boipeba-Moreré, Brazil). Mussismilia hispida is a massive coral; M. braziliensis also has a massive growth pattern, but forms a crevice in the basal area of the corallum; M. harttii has a meandroid pattern. PERMANOVA analysis suggests significant differences in associated fauna richness among Mussismilia species, with higher values for M. harttii, followed by M.braziliensis and later by M. hispida. The same trend was observed for density, except that the comparison of M. braziliensis and M. hispida did not show differences. Redundancy and canonical correspondence analysis indicated that almost all of the crustacean species were more associated with the M. harttii colonies that formed a group clearly separated from colonies of M. braziliensis and M. hispida. We also found that the internal volume of interpolyp space, only present in M. harttii, was the most important factor influencing richness and abundance of all analyzed orders of crustaceans.

Dissodactylus crinitichelis Moreira, 1901 and Leodia sexiesperforata (Leske, 1778): first record of this symbiosis in Brazil

The crabs of the genus Dissodactylus are well known as ectosymbionts of irregular echinoids belonging to Clypeasteroida and Spatangoida. Dissodactylus crinitichelis is the only species of the genus reported in Brazil. The pea crab species has been already recorded associated with four species of echinoids in Brazilian waters. This paper reviews the known hosts for D. crinitichelis and registers for the first time the association between the pea crab and the sand dollar Leodia sexiesperforata increasing to five the number of known hosts for the crab.

A new species of Troglocarcinus (Decapoda: Brachyura: Cryptochiridae) symbiotic with the Brazilian endemic coral Mussismilia (Anthozoa: Scleractinia: Mussidae)

Abstract Three species of cryptochirid crabs, obligatory symbionts of scleractinian corals, have so far been recorded from Brazil: Troglocarcinus corallicola, Opecarcinus hypostegus and Kroppcarcinus siderastreicola. All three genera are monospecific. Individuals belonging to an undescribed species of Troglocarcinus, here described as T. hirsutus sp. nov., were found associated with colonies of Mussismilia from Bahia State, northeastern region of Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congener mainly by a carapace with several large spines delimiting the protogastric and mesogastric regions, sternite of first pereopod with setae and third pleopod of female being uniramous or biramous. An emendation to the diagnosis of the monospecific Troglocarcinus is proposed. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0FA03021-69A6-4F93-AA0A-6451BC6D2DE4

A New Species of Cryptopontius (Crustacea: Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) from Easter Island

Abstract A new species of artotrogid copepod (Siphonostomatoida), Cryptopontius tanacredii n. sp., associated with the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus) from Easter Island, is described. The new species can be distinguished from its 20 congeners by the combination of the following six characters: (1) 9-segmented antennule, (2) terminal segment of leg 4 exopod armed with nine elements, (3) second segment of P1 endopod with two setae, (4) two setae on outer lobe of maxillule, (5) inner lobe of the maxillule tipped with two setae, and (6) free segment of P5 present and armed with three setae. This is the first record of the genus from the eastern Pacific and the first occurring in association with a scleractinian coral.

New records of nudibranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Bahia State, northeastern Brazil

Although around 3,000 species of nudibranchs are known worldwide, only nearly 100 species are reported from Brazil. From Bahia State, northeastern Brazil, only seven species are listed. The current article provides four new records of nudibranchs from this region: Geitodoris pusae (Marcus 1955); Felimida paulomarcioi (Dominguez, Garcia and Troncoso 2006); Felimida binza (Marcus and Marcus 1963) and Cadlina rumia Marcus 1955. The new records presented herein fill part of a historical gap in the species geographic distribution, and increase to eleven the number of nudibranch species known from Bahia.

First record of Flabellina dana Millen and Hamann, 2006 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) in the South Atlantic Ocean

The nudibranch Flabellina dana Millen and Hamann, 2006 is reported from two localities in the northeastern Brazilian coast. These are the first records of this species, previously recorded from localities in the Bahamas and the Caribbean Sea, in South Atlantic Ocean, extending its known geographic distribution more than 3500 km southward.