Liljeborgia (Liljeborgia) dellavallei Stebbing 1906

Liljeborgia (Liljeborgia) dellavallei Stebbing, 1906

(Fig. 7)

Nicippe pallida. –– Della Valle, 1893: 658 (in part), pl. 1 fig. 1 [in colour, 'varietà del Porto Militare'], pl. 19 fig. 35–52. Liljeborgia dellavallei Stebbing, 1906: 230, 234 (in part). –– d'Udekem d'Acoz, 2010: 162, fig. 27–32. Lilljeborgia Della-Vallei. –– Chevreux & Fage, 1925: 153 (in part), fig. 153–154.

Lilljeborgia Della Vallei. –– Cecchini & Parenzan, 1935: 181 –182 (in part), fig. 22.

Type locality. Bay of Naples.

Material examined. Malta, Mellieha Bay, 35°59’N 014°22’E, Posidonia bed, 9–12 m, September 1999: 10 specimens, coll. J.A. Borg, RBINS, INV. 93162; Malta, Ċirkewwa, station SS 5/11/10, 35°59'N 014°20'E, 2.5 m sublittoral algal habitat, rocky substratum, 2.5 m, sample collected by scraping a 20 cm x 20 cm quadrat, November 2011: 1 specimen, coll. J.A. Borg, RBINS, INV. 100993; Sardinia, Sample “(2) SC6D Ld”, 40°51’36.6’’N 009°43’23.1’’E, Posidonia bed, 12 m, SCUBA diving, air-lift sampler, 11.viii.2007: 1 specimen, coll. Nicolas Sturaro, RBINS, INV. 93166.

Description. See d'Udekem d'Acoz (2010).

Size. 7 mm.

Distribution and ecology. Posidonia beds and algae growing on rocks, at 2.5–13 m depth (specimens recorded herein and by d'Udekem d'Acoz, 2010). The species is widely distributed across the Mediterranean Sea.

Lectotype designation. In his description, Stebbing (1906) simply refers to Della Valle's (1893) description of Neapolitan ' Nicippe pallida (Spence Bate, 1857) ' and Stebbing did not examine any specimens of the species. Illustrations of Della Valle's material (at least those of his plate 19) are based on L. dellavallei sensu d'Udekem d'Acoz FIGURE 7. Liljeborgia dellavallei Stebbing, 1906. A, B, C, D, F, Malta, 35°59’N 014°22’E; E, G, Sardinia, 40°51’36.6’’N 009°43’23.1’’E. A, right Md palp; B, right Mxp plates; C, propodus and dactylus of left P3; D, propodus and dactylus of right P4; E, dorsal part of pleon in lateral view; F, dorsal part of pleonite 3 in lateral view; G, right U1; H, telson.

(2010). Indeed, on the illustration of the propodus of pereiopod 4 (pl. 19 fig. 50), the distal spines appear as considerably longer than the proximal spines, and on the illustration of the telson (pl. 19 fig. 43), the distal spines appear as quite short. These characters only fit with L. dellavallei sensu d'Udekem d'Acoz (2010). However the material, which Della Valle (1893) used for his written description, presumably consisted of a mixture of L. dellavallei sensu d'Udekem d'Acoz (2010) and L. clytaemnestra sp. nov., since he recognized a stocky and a more slender variety, with a different ecological niche. Stebbing (1906) did not designate any type specimen, and whilst some Liljeborgia specimens identified by Della Valle still exist (Geldiay et al., 1971), there is no evidence that Della Valle (1893) used them for his description. In order to stabilize the nomenclature, the Bay of Naples specimen of ' Nicippe pallida (Spence Bate, 1857) ' illustrated by Della Valle (1893, pl. 19 fig. 35–52), is herein designated as the lectotype of L. dellavallei, under article 74.4. of ICZN (1999).

Remarks. Some authors like Della Valle (1893, as Nicippe pallida) and Chevreux & Fage (1925) stated that Liljeborgia dellavallei has a small posterodorsal tooth on pleonite 3, whilst d'Udekem d'Acoz (2010) did not observe such a tooth. New observations indicate that such a tooth is sometimes present, albeit rarely.