Pycnogonida |
Pantopoda |
Phoxichilidiidae
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Benthic. Tropical
Western Central Pacific: Philippines.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm Max length : 0.5 cm LS male/unsexed; (Ref. 6)
Tiny; leg span 0.46 cm. Trunk: fully segmented, glabrous, second and third pair of lateral processes with suture lines at juncture with trunk. Lateral processes: short, as short as or shorter than their diameter, separated by half or less of their diameter. Neck: very short, ocular tubercle occupying its entire dorsum, short, rounded, wider at base than its length, eyes large, lightly pigmented. Abdomen: short, broad, carried at low angle, tapering to rounded point without setae. Proboscis: Very short, barrel-like, tapering toward lips, with several short setae. Lips: Flat. Chelifores: Short, robust, chelae as long as scapes. Scape: With single dorsodistal seta, chelae with two ectal short setae. Movable finger: Swollen proximally, tapering and well curved distally. Immovable finger: shorter, almost straight, curving slightly at tip, both glabrous. Oviger: 6-segmented, short, second segment slightly longer than first, third longest, only four times longer than its diameter, fourth curved, about 0.6 as long as third segment Fifth only 0.6 length of fourth, sixth a tiny cone. All segments except first armed with one to four tiny recurved setae, without major spines. Legs: Short, robust, with very few setae, mostly ventral. Femur: Longest segment, inflated, single cement gland under a low swollen area on dorsodistal third of segment, with tiny pore at midpoint of swelling. Tarsus: Almost triangular, propodus without marked heel but with two broad heel spines and about 10 or 11 short sole spines. Claw: broad, over half propodal length, without trace of auxiliary claws (Ref. 6).
Littoral; coastal (Ref. 19).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Members of the class Pycnogonida are gonochoric and sexually dimorphic. During copulation, male usually suspends itself beneath the female. Fertilization occurs as the eggs leave the female's ovigers. Males brood the egg masses until they hatch. Life cycle: Eggs hatch into protonymphon larva then to adults.
Child, C.A. 1988 Pycnogonida of the Western Pacific Islands, III: Recent Smithsonian-Philippine Expeditions. Smithsonian Contribution to Zoology No. 468. Smithsonian Instition Press. Washington, DC. 32 p. + Figure 1 -3. (Ref. 6)
IUCN Red List Status
(Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Not Evaluated
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Human uses
| FishSource |
Tools
More information
Trophic EcologyFood items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Population dynamicsGrowth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycleReproductionMaturityFecunditySpawningEggsEgg developmentLarvae PhysiologyOxygen consumption
Human RelatedStamps, coins, misc.
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Fishing Vulnerability
Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category
Unknown.
