Notochthamalus Explained

Notochthamalus scabrosus, the only species in the genus Notochthamalus,^{[1] [2]} is a species of barnacle found along the south-western and south-eastern coasts of South America, from Peru to the Falkland Islands.^[3] The species is found almost exclusively higher in the intertidal zone than the mussel Perumytilus, often codistributed with the confamilial barnacle Jehlius cirratus and Balanus flosculus.

Diagnosis and discussion

Notochthamalus is composed of 6 compartmental plates, composed of a carina, rostrum, and paired carinolatera and rostrolatera. Sutures between plates made up of poorly developed oblique folded laminae with membraneous basis. Plates are colored dull purplish brown, weathering to gray. Free-growing shellis are conic, crowded colonies become cylindrical, with plate sutures obscured. Opercular plates are narrow and deeply interlocked. The interior of the tergum shows a tergal depressor muscle pit with overhang and no crests, or only relics thereof. Neither shell nor opercular plates show secondary fusion with age.^{[1] [4]} The best character for field identification are the undulations along the tergal-scutal margins. Given the overall appearance of the operculum of Notochthamalus, it is sometimes called the "vampire barnacle".

Nomenclature and synonymies

Notochthamalus

• Notochthamalus, 1987;^[1] (original description).
• Type species: Chthamalus scabrosus, 1854: 468, original designation by Foster & Newman, 1987, and by monotypy.

Notochthamalus scabrosus

• Chthamalus scabrosus, 1854;468 (original description): Newman & Ross, 1976,^[5] 42 (see for pre-1976 bibliography).
• Notochthamalus scabrosus . Foster & Newman, 1987,^[1] (generic re-assignment):,^{[6] [4]} (discussion, supplementary description).
• Type locality: Not given in Darwin, 1854, or Pilsbry, 1916.
• Type specimens: Not given in Darwin, 1854. Pilsbry's 1916 reference specimens from Valparaiso, Chile are USNM No. 48089.^[7] 323

Geographic range and habitat

Notochthamalus scabrosus prefers exposed upper littoral habitats, and can be found on the South American coastline from Peru through Chile, Chiloe Archipelago, and Tierra del Fuego. It co-occurs there with Jehlius cirratus. In the Atlantic Ocean, it is very common on the Falkland Islands.468^[4]

Notes and References

1. Brian A. Foster & William A. Newman . 1987 . Chthamalid Barnacles of Easter Island. Peripheral Pacific Isolation of Notochthamalinae new-subfamily and Hembeli group of Euraphiinae (Cirripedia: Chthamaloidea). . . 41 . 2 . 322–336 .
2. William A. Newman & Brian A. Foster . 1987 . Southern Hemisphere endemism among the barnacles: explained in part by extinction of northern members of amphitropical taxa? . . 41 . 2 . 361–377 .
3. Jessica Curelovich, Gustavo A. Lovrich & Javier A. Calcagno . 2009 . Nueva localidad para Notochthamalus scabrosus (Crustacea, Cirripedia): Bahía Lapataia, Canal Beagle, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina . Spanish . New locality for Notochthamalus scabrosus (Crustacea, Cirripedia): Bahía Lapataia, Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina . Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia (Chile) . 37 . 2 . 47–50 . 10.4067/s0718-686x2009000200005. free .
4. Book: Poltarukha, O. P.. Identification Atlas of Superfamily Chthamaloidea (Cirripedia Thoracica) barnacles in World Ocean. 2006. KMK Scientific Press, Ltd.. Moscow. 978-5-87317-278-8. 1–198 [In Russian].
5. Newman. W. A.. A. Ross . Revision of the Balanomorph Barnacles including a catalog of the species. Memoirs of San Diego Society of Natural History. 1976. 9. 1–108.
6. Poltarukha. O. P.. Composition, phylogeny and position in system of subfamily Notochthamalinae (Crustacea, Chthamalidae). Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. 1996. 75. 7. 985–994. 0044-5134.
7. Pilsbry. H. A.. The sessile Barnacles (Cirripedia) contained in the collections of the US National Museum; including a monograph of the American species. Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin. 1916. 93. 93. 1–366. 10.5479/si.03629236.93.1. 2027/nyp.33433010733677.