Shells of Triphoroidea (Gastropoda) occupied by crustaceans in the western Atlantic

ABSTRACT

The present study investigates the occurrence of crustaceans inhabiting shells of Triphoroidea (consisting of small-sized gastropods, with right or left coiling) along the western Atlantic. Shells of the newtoniellid Retilaskeya emersonii were occupied by the tanaidacean Pagurotanais bouryi and one hermit crab (Paguridae sp. 1), and possibly by the amphipod Ampithoe sp. One shell of Cerithiopsis cf. dominguezi had the tanaidacean Pagurapseudinae living inside of it, whereas a shell of Cerithiopsis gemmulosa sheltered the tanaidacean P. bouryi. Shells of the triphorid species Metaxia taeniolata, Marshallora modesta and Nototriphora decorata were occupied by the hermit crabs Paguridae sp. 2 and Paguridae sp. 3 and the tanaidacean Leptochelia sp., respectively. Analysis of collections made during this study indicates that the presence of crustaceans in sinistral shells of Triphoridae may be not as rare as previously suggested in the literature.

KEYWORDS:

• Triphoridae
• Cerithiopsidae
• shell occupancy
• hermit crab
• Tanaidacea

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr Alexandre Pimenta (MNRJ) and MSc Priscila Nascimento (MNRJ) for helping in the identification of the gastropod Cerithiopsis cf. dominguezi and of the amphipod Ampithoe sp., respectively. Two anonymous reviewers greatly improved this work. CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) and CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) provided doctoral fellowships to MRF and JLS, respectively, during the course of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.