Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Cumacea
Family Nannastacidae
Cumella (Cumella) abacoensis Petrescu, 1996
Taxonomic Characterization: A small cumacean with a hairy integument. The
carapace is 0.3 times the total body length. The ocelli crown consists of 5
lenses. The notch is distinct. Pereiopod II has a relatively short dactyl. The
uropods are the pleotelson. The endopodite is as long as the exopodite on the female and a
little longer on the male. C. abacoensis can be distinguished from other
Cumella by the following characteristics:
- Carapace without dorsal spines.
- Slender antennula.
- Maxillula with setulated filament.
- Maxilliped 3 with more spines.
- Uropodal peduncle and endopodite with fewer spines.
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Disposition of Specimens: Grigore Antipa, Natural History Museum,
inventory number 49,581-3.
Ecological Classification: Probably stygophilic (troglophilic)
Size: The female holotype's length was 1.72 mm; male paratype's was 1.94
mm.
Number of Species in Genus: More than 60 species are included in the
genus Cumella, the subgenus Cumella is the most numerous (about
40). None are known to be stygobitic.
Subgenus Cumella Range:
- Bahamas:
- Abaco Island Blue Hole: C. abacoensis Petrescu, 1996
- North Andros Island Blue Holes: C. andri
Petrescu & Iliffe, 1992; C. radui
Petrescu & Iliffe, 1992; C. bahamensis
Petrescu & Iliffe, 1992
- Caribbean: C. antipai Petrescu, Iliffe, & Sarbu, 1994; C.
coralicola Bacescu, 1971; C. gomoiui Bacescu & Muradian,
1977; C. amaicensis Petrescu, Iliffe, & Sarbu, 1994; C.
longicaudata Petrescu, Iliffe, & Sarbu, 1994
- Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia: C. arguta
Gamo, 1962; C. cana Hale, 1945; C. gibba Zimmer, 1914;
C. laevis Calman, 1911
- Mediterranean, Black Sea: C. pygmaea Sars, 1865; C.
pygmaea euxinica Bacescu, 1950
- Deep Atlantic: C. concinna Jones, 1984; C. decipiens
Jones, 1984; C. meridionalis Jones, 1984
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Species Range: Lower Rock Blowing Hole, Cherokee Sound, Abaco Island,
Bahamas
Closest Related Species: Species from the Western Atlantic, C.
garrittyi Bacescu & Muradian, 1977; and C. gomoiui Bacescu & Muradian,
1977. Also, C. polita Jones, 1984 from the Florida coasts and the
Caribbean Sea
Habitat: Marine limestone caves
Ecology: Collected from the surface of a coarse shell hash on the floor
of the passage, 30-60 m inside the cave entrance at 18 m waters depths,
salinity-fully marine, water temperature: 24.4ºC. The cave entrance consists of
10 m diameter vertical shaft starting in a 3 m water depth and descending to 10
m depth. The main passage slopes gradually down to 18 m depth and continues for
a least 100 m as a 2-3 m high conduit with a coarse sand bottom and irregular
walls. At the time of the collections, a strong tidal current was flowing into
the cave. Many sponges were present on the walls and several nurse sharks
congregated near the entrance. Copepods, ostracods, amphipods, tanaidaceans,
shrimps and archiannelids were also collected (Petrescu, 1996).
Evolutionary Origins: Probably originated from an open water ancestor.
Conservation Status: Restricted to Lower Rock Blowing Hole, Abaco Island,
Bahamas.
Reference:
- Bacescu, M. and Z. Muradian. 1977. Species of the genus Cumella
(Crustacea, Nannastacidae) from the Western Tropical Atlantic,
Travaux du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Grigore Antipa, 18:89-102.
- Calman, W.T. 1911. On new or rare crustacea of the order Cumacea
from the collection of the Copenhagen Museum. Part II. The families
Nannastacidae and Diastylidae. Trans. zool. Soc. Land,
18:341-400.
- Petrescu, I. and T.M. Iliffe. 1992. Contributions to the knowledge
of the cumacean species (Crustacea, Cumacea) of British Blue Holes
(Andros Island, Bahamas Islands). Travaux du Museum d'Historie
Naturelle Grigore Antipa, 32: 283-301, 10 figures.
- Petrescu, I. 1996. Cumaceans (Crustacea: Cumacea) from Abaco Islands
(Bahamas). Travaux du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Grigore Antipa,
36:157-183, 14 figures.
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Links:
- The Cumacean
Page contains information on systematics, ecology, and biogeography
of the cumaceans of the World. It is one part of a PEET project
(Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy) funded by the
Systematic Biology Program of the United States National Science
Foundation.
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Contributor: Iorgu Petrescu, Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History,
Bucharest, Romania
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