Schizotrema agglutinanta

Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Malacostraca
Order Cumacea
Family Nannastacidae

Schizotrema agglutinanta (Băcescu, 1971)

Synonyms: Cumella agglutinanta Băcescu, 1971; Cumella bermudensis Petrescu 1990; Cumella spinosa Băcescu & Iliffe, 1991; Cumella sterreri Petrescu, 1990

Taxonomic Characterization: Body covered with a few setae. Carapace a little shorter than 1/3 of entire body length; marked notch, completely separated pseudorostral lobes; upturned pseudorostrum; eye lobe with two separated groups of lenses (three lenses, one pigmented each) (Petrescu & Sterrer, 2001:117-123). Băcescu & Iliffe (1991) described Cumella bermudensis based on females and C. sterreri based on males, mostly from the same samples collected in Bermuda caves. These species, along with C. spinosa from Walsingham Cave and C. agglutinanta from Florida and Cuba, are considered synonymous and have been placed in the genus Schizotrema Calman by Petrescu & Sterrer, 2001:121-122.

Disposition of Specimens: Walsingham Cave (Bermuda Natural History Museum - BAMZ 2001193013; Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna - NHMW 19562); other caves (Grigore Antipa National Museum of Natural History Museum - GAM 49372-3, 256162, 256164-84).

Ecological Classification: Probably stygophilic.

Size: Adult female 1.70 mm in length, males 1.4-1.5 mm.

Number of Species in Genus: At least 11.

Genus Range: This is the first record of the genus Schizotrema from the Atlantic Ocean.

Species Range: Walsingham Cave, Deep Blue Cave, Straw Market Cave, Green Bay Cave, Cripplegate Cave, Cherry Pit Cave, Sailor's Choice Cave, and Emerald Sink, as well as Hungry Bay and Castle Harbour, Bermuda. Also reported from Florida and Cuba.

Closest Related Species: The only presently recorded species of Schizotrema also with long and thin uropodal peduncle is S. depressum Calman, 1911 from the Indo-Pacific.

Habitat: Anchialine caves and open water bays of Bermuda.

Ecology: Cave specimens were primarily collected by divers using a 93 micron mesh plankton net from the surface of silty bottom sediments.

Life History: Collected specimens that have been sexed include 12 males, 41 females and 3 juveniles (Petrescu & Sterrer, 2001:117).

Evolutionary Origins: Cave populations probably colonized from open waters.

Conservation Status: Distributed in at least eight caves from the Walsingham cave district of Bermuda as well as from open waters in Hungry Bay and Castle Harbour.

References:

Bacescu, M. 1971. New Cumacea from the littoral waters of Florida (Caribbean Sea). Travaux du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Grigore Antipa, 11:5-24.
Bacescu, M. 1992. Deux espèces nouvelles de Cumella (Crustacea, Cumacea) des grottes sous-marines de Bermuda. Travaux du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Grigore Antipa, 32:257-262.
Bacescu, M. & T.M. Iliffe. 1991. Nouvelles espèces de Cumella des grottes sous-marines de Bermude. Revue Roumaine Biologie - Biologie Animale, 36(1-2):9-13.
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. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 18:341-400.
Petrescu, I. 1990. Campylaspis cousteaui, a new cumacean species from the submarine caves of Bermuda. Revue Roumaine Biologie - Biologie Animale, 35(1):9-12.
Petrescu, I. and W. Sterrer. 2001. Cumacea (Crustacea) from shallow waters of Bermuda. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, 103 B:89-128, 158 figures, 4 tables.

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.

Contributor: Iorgu Petrescu, Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History, Bucharest, Romania