The Facetotecta is among the lesser known groups in the world ocean. The present study recorded two types of Facetotecta in the Andaman Sea, off Andaman Islands. These two types of Facetotecta were observed during the period of August 2015, July 2016 and October 2017 and identified as Type I Hansenocaris corvinae and Type IX Hansenocaris leucadea. However, the cursory analysis suggested that the Type IX is a new type of Facetotecta and named it as Type XII Hansenocaris portblairenae sp. (nov). This finding suggests that this Facetotecta observation is the first report in the Andaman Sea, as well as in the Indian Ocean Region.
The crustacean Facetotecta which has never been known for its adult, but identified as larvae called Y-larvae, has long been considered as a great mystery of zoological studies. Generally, it has been found from the poles to the tropics, that coral reef areas show very high diversity in marine planktons. The closest relatives of this larva are barnacles and Ascothoracida, which have also exhibited a similar larval form and parasitic nature. Due to its close similarity with Ascothoracida and Cirripedia, this Y-larvae/Y-nauplii has been named as facetotecta (subclass) by Grygier [
Ito [
Prior to this report, no existing literature reported that this species was identified in any of the Indian Seas and the Andaman Sea. A continuous monitoring of the planktons with reference to carbon accumulation on oligotrophic waters resulted in the identification of this species that also in a particular period, made this finding an interesting one.
Eight locations, which have coverage of a 50 km stretch of the nearshore environment of the Andaman Sea and represent the South Andaman geographical locations were sampled on a monthly basis (Chidiyatappu, Kodiyaghat South, Kodiyaghat North, Burmanallah, Carbyns Cove, Chatham and North Bay) from 2014 to 2017 (
The plankton samples were collected using the standard phytoplankton net (mesh size of 30 µM) for a horizontal tow of about 10 minutes. The plankton sample was collected as a soup and latter its wet volume was estimated and the Facetotecta was separated based on the keys provided by Ito [
The forty eight (2014-2017) studied plankton samples suggested that during the months of August 2015, July 2016 and October 2017, some unknown specimens were observed, which were identified in the range of 1 to 5 numbers, i.e., August 2015—1 No., July 2016—5 Nos., and October 2017—1 No. These specimens were first identified as rotifer and then moved to small crustaceans. In the course of time, the identification search led to the rare larval form Y-Nauplii.
The taxonomy of the identified Y-nauplii is as follows.
Embedded on it is a cephalic shield with cuticular ridges, cresentric and polygonal plates. It has a dorsocaudal organ protruding in lateral view. The spine like the terminal horn is shorter than two furcal spines in dorsal view. The margins of the hind body exhibited with spines, whose size increased towards the caudal extremity.
One—Type I Y-nauplii from North Bay, August 2015. Five numbers from July 2016. The second samples were also collected from the same location. These specimen descriptions were also similar to the earlier one and were considered as similar specimens of August 2015.
The specimen collected for the month of August 2015 was kept as a Holotype (One Number) for the Type I Y-nauplius of the Andaman Sea and Deposited at the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University Off Campus, Port Blair, Andaman Islands (Reg. No. DOSMB 6053). This species length is 207 µm. Locality of collection: North Bay, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andaman Sea (Coordinates: Lat: 11˚41'45.76N: Long: 092˚45'01.54E). Collection Date: 21st August 2015. Collector: Dr. P. M Mohan.
Five individuals, from the North Bay, were collected on 22nd July 2016 at the Coordinates: Lat: 11˚41'43.09N: Long: 092˚46'00.22E and deposited in the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University Off Campus, Port Blair, Andaman Islands (Reg. No. DOSMB 6054-6058).
The body length ranged from 207.1 to 288 µm (6 Nos.) (mean—249.5 µm). The dorsal view shows that the cephalic shield is separated from the hind body by a suture. The dorsal shape is cresentric, elongate and plates are embedded with polygonal shapes. The cuticular design of the plates is not in complete polygonal shape. The occipital field of the shield is not subdivided. The entire cuticle is marked with mesh, like the texture of the ridges. The length of the marginal spines increases towards the caudal region. The furcal spines are at the extremity of the hind body. The ventral part was also framed with carapace which is produced laterally and has marginal spines. These marginal spines belong to the dorsal plate of the hind body. There is a terminal spine, which is produced from the lower extremity of the ventral region and two more furcal spines which are parallel to each other and also longest in length. These furcal spines are longer than all other spines of the body (
Its antennule is uniramous and well articulated. The distal article bears five setae (Figures 4-6). The second antenna is furnished with spiny medially oriented endites. Both the coxa and basis bear a spine. The coxa and basis of the mandible have spiny endites and the labrum is trilobiate. Numerous transverse cuticular ridges are present on the hind body.
Taxonomy:
Phylum: Arthropoda.
Subphylum: Crustacea.
Class: Maxillopoda.
Infraclass: Facetotecta (Grygier, 1985).
Family: Hansenocarididae (Ito, 1985).
Genus: Hansenocaris (Ito, 1985).
Species: corvinae (Belmonte, 2005).
Type Location: Crotta Delle Corvine, Santa Caterina in the Mediterranean Sea.
It has a cephalic shield with cuticular ridges, elongate, cresentric and embedded with polygonal plates. The protruding dorsocaudal organs are visible from the lateral side. The terminal horn spine is more prominent than the two latero-ventral ones (furcal spines) in dorsal view. The margins of the hind body have spines whose size increases towards the caudal extremity.
One Y-nauplius from the North Bay was examined. This specimen was availed from the sample collected during the month of October 2017. The description of
this species is unique compared to the already described species, this species description has been considered separately.
Since, only one specimen was collected, this specimen was kept as a Holotype specimen and preserved in the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University Off Campus, Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India (Reg. No. DOSMB 6059). This species has length of 294.65 µm. Locality of collection: North Bay, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andaman Sea (Coordinates: Lat: 11˚41'42.44N: Long: 092˚45'01.62E). Collection Date: 17th October 2017. Collector: Dr. P. M. Mohan.
The body length is 294.65 µm. The dorsal view shows the cephalic shield, which is separated from the hind body by a suture. These shield plates are cresentric, elongate polygonal, and are more complete in nature providing a better complete structure. The occipital field of the shield is subdivided. All the cuticle is decorated with a mesh like texture of the ridges. The cuticle of the hind body has a dorsocaudal organ from the posterior margin. The terminal spine is inserted at the end of the hind body. It is larger than each of the furcal spines from the dorsal view. The margins of the hind body are armed with spines and furcal spines are present. Furcal spines are at the extremity of the hind body. The length of the marginal spine increases towards the caudal direction. The ventral view, a medial region of the hind body is well distinguished with transverse cuticular ridges armed with spines. The antennule is uniramous and well articulated. The distal article bears four setae. The second antenna is furnished with medially directed spiny endites (
Taxonomy:
Phylum: Arthropoda.
Subphylum: Crustacea.
Class: Maxillopoda.
Infraclass: Facetotecta (Grygier, 1985).
Family: Hansenocarididae (Ito, 1985).
Genus: Hansenocaris (Ito, 1985).
Species: portblairenae sp. (nov).
Type Location: North Bay, Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India.
Y-nauplii was considered a new type because the availability of the terminal horn spine is more prominent than the two latero-ventral ones (furcal spines) in dorsal view. Further, the nearest Type Hansenocaris leucadea showed almost similar characters to Y-nauplii. However, the designated Y-nauplii Hansenocaris portblairenae sp. (nov)., differed mainly in terms of the embedded polygonal plate design, which showed almost a complete structure. Therefore, it has been considered as a new Type of Y-nauplii and named as a Type XII—Hansenocaris portblairenae sp. (nov). Port Blair is the nearest town to this sample location, hence a name was added and designated as a new species.
The focused search of the identified Y-nauplii resulted in the identification of two tropical types of Facetotecta. They are Hansenocaris corvinae and Hansenocaris leucadea. However, the cursory analysis revealed that instead of Hansenocaris leucadea, the identified Y-nauplii description may lead to a new Type of Y-nauplii.
This Type, Y-nauplii byname is derived from the Corvine Grotto, a submerged cave on the Ionian coast of the Salento peninsula, where this species was found for the first time [
This Y-nauplius was found only in the month of October 2017, was not observed in other periods of study and was only from the North Bay. The difference in the cuticular plate design and complete absence of the pore associated sensilla made this species to be assigned as a separate entity. Other than that, all the remaining characters showed similarity with the species Type IX Hansenocaris leucadea Y-nauplii of the Mediterranean Sea as described by Belmonte [
The Andaman Islands, a part of the Andaman Sea, contained two species of Y-nauplii. One of the two species was identified as Type I—Hansenocaris corvinae. However, the second species was identified as a new species due to its variation in polygonal plates and the absence of pores related to sensilla and designated as Type XII—Hansenocaris portblairenae sp. (nov). Further, it has also been suggested that this is the first record in the Andaman Sea as well as the Indian Ocean waters. A detailed, continued monitoring of this water is essential to understand its further distribution and availability.
The authors thank the Authorities of the Pondicherry University for the facilities provided to conduct this research. Further, the authors thank the Indian Insistue of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pune for providing the fund for estimation of carbon in the oligotrophic waters.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
Swathi, V. and Mohan, P.M. (2019) Identification of Y-Nauplii (Facetotecta) in Andaman Sea, India. Open Journal of Marine Science, 9, 137-147. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojms.2019.93011