RESEARCH NOTE

Cretaceous–Palaeogene lobsters, Hoploparia stokesi (Weller, 1903), from Antarctica: historical review, and transfer of specimens from the United States Polar Rock Repository

Loren E. Babcock¹, Rodney M. Feldmann² & Anne M. Grunow³

¹Orton Geological Museum, School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, OH, USA; ²Department of Earth Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA; ³United States Polar Rock Repository, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

Abstract

The nephropid lobster Hoploparia stokesi (Weller 1903a) is widely distributed among the islands of the Antarctic Peninsula, where it occurs in strata of Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) to Palaeogene (Paleocene) age. Specimens of H. stokesi collected during expeditions in the 1980s that were in the collection of the United States Polar Rock Repository at The Ohio State University have been transferred to the Orton Geological Museum, joining other geological collections from Antarctica. Some of the transferred specimens are voucher specimens described or illustrated in earlier published work.

Keywords
Decapod; Nephropoidea; concretion; Lagerstätte; Seymour Island

Abbreviations
BMNH: The Natural History Museum (formerly British Museum [Natural History]), London, UK
FMNH: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA
NRM: Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
OSU: Orton Geological Museum, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
PRI: Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY, USA
PRR: United States Polar Rock Repository, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
USNM: United States National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA

 

Introduction

The nephropid lobster Hoploparia stokesi (Decapoda, Astacidea, Nephropoidea, Nephropidae; Fig. 1) is common in Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) and Palaeogene (Paleocene) rocks of the Santa Marta, López de Bertodano and Sobral formations (Marambio Group) in the Antarctic Peninsula (Feldmann et al. 1993; Pinheiro et al. 2020). Described under the basionym Glyphaea stokesi from Snow Hill Island by Weller (1903a: 418–419, pl. 1, fig. 1), it was among the earliest fossils collected from Antarctica, and the first fossil arthropod described from the continent.

Fig. 1 Hoploparia stokesi (Weller, 1903a) from the López de Bertodano Formation (Cretaceous), Seymour Island, Antarctica, preserved in fine-grained, calcareous and glauconitic, sandstone concretions; both were previously referred in text by Tshudy & Feldmann (1988: 292). (a) Large claw, part, OSU 55329A. (b) Left lateral view of moulted exoskeleton, mostly preserved as an external mould, OSU 55328. Bar scales = 1 cm.

Frank Wilbert Stokes, who collected the holotype of H. stokesi, was an American artist aboard the Antarctica (Stokes 1903), the ship that serviced the Swedish South Polar Expedition of 1901–03, under the leadership of Otto Nordensköjld. During two days in February 1902, when ashore in Graham Land, Stokes collected bivalves, gastropods, ammonites and a decapod (lobster) from talus in Admiralty Sound, Snow Hill Island (Andersson 1906). When Stokes returned to the US in March 1902, ahead of the completion of the Swedish expedition, these became the first fossils brought back from Antarctica. Except for specimens of the ammonite Hamites, the fossils were in dense, fine-grained sandstone concretions.

Stuart Weller (1903a, b) published on Stokes’ material, reporting erroneously that it was from Admiralty Inlet, Louis Philippe Land. Andersson (1906) identified the locality as Admiralty Sound, Snow Hill Island. Weller (1903a, b) concluded that the fossils were of Middle to Late Cretaceous age. As reported by Ball (1960), who transferred G. stokesi to Hoploparia, the holotype is in the Stokes Collection of Antarctic Fossils, which was originally part of the University of Chicago’s Walker Museum collection (No. 9705). That collection is now incorporated in the collection of the FMNH.

The holotype specimen of H. stokesi collected by Stokes in Graham Land was one of several decapod fossils found during the Swedish South Polar Expedition. Others, which are reposited in the NRM (NRM Ar. 46059-46065; see Ball 1960), are from Snow Hill Island, Seymour Island and Cockburn Island. Pinheiro et al. (2020) reported that 18 paratype specimens of H. stokesi are in the USNM. These specimens were not collected in 1902 and did not constitute material that contributed to Weller’s (1903a:418–419) original description of Glyphaea stokesi, which was based only on the holotype (refigured by Ball 1960: pl. I, fig. 5). They are, therefore, not paratypes. Instead, they were collected in the 1980s and were illustrated or referred to in text by Feldmann et al. (1993) and Feldmann & Tshudy (1987).

Subsequent reports show that H. stokesi occurs widely through the James Ross Basin area (also published as the James Ross Sub-basin of the Larsen Basin; cf. Elliot 1988; Hathway 2000) on the Antarctic Peninsula and has a considerable stratigraphic range (Feldmann et al. 1993); for stratigraphic details see Rinaldi (1982), Crame et al. (1991, 2004), and Pinheiro et al. 2020). Feldmann (1988) confirmed that H. stokesi is present on Snow Island. Ball (1960), Taylor (1973), Feldmann (1988, 1990) and Feldmann et al. (1993) reported H. stokesi from James Ross Island. The presence of this species on Seymour Island was recorded by Ball (1960), del Valle & Renaldi (1975), Feldmann (1985, 1987), Feldmann & Tshudy (1987), Tshudy & Feldmann (1988), Aguirre Urretta (1989), Feldmann et al. (1993) and Pinheiro et al. (2020). In addition, Ball (1960), Feldmann et al. (1993) and Pinheiro et al. (2020) reported H. stokesi from Cockburn Island; and Feldmann et al. (1993) and Pinheiro et al. (2020) reported the species from Vega Island and Humps Island. The compilation of Feldmann et al. (1993; see also El-Shazly 2015) shows that H. stokesi ranges stratigraphically from the Santa Marta Formation through the López de Bertodano Formation into the Sobral Formation, in total a range of Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) through lower Palaeogene (Paleocene).

Most Mesozoic–Cenozoic fossil clawed lobsters reported from Antarctica have been assigned to Hoploparia. The genus, which ranges through the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, is diverse (e.g., Tshudy & Sorhannus 2003; Schweitzer et al. 2010; El-Shazly 2015; Tshudy et al. 2018; Pinheiro et al. 2020); more than 65 species have been described (Schweitzer et al. 2010), not counting synonyms. To date, four Hoploparia species have been reported from Antarctica: H. stokesi (Weller 1903a), Hoploparia antarctica Wilckens 1907, Hoploparia gazdzickii Feldmann & Crame, 1998, and Hoploparia echinata Pinheiro et al. 2020. [Copyeditor: In the preceding sentence, the names/years are provided as taxonomic citations, following zoological convention; they are not regular bibliographical references. Please don’t change the formatting, for example do not add parentheses or delete commas. They do not need to be added to the references.] A large majority of specimens collected from Antarctica have been referred to H. stokesi, a species that is inferred to have wide morphologic variability (Feldmann et al. 1993). Tshudy & Sorhannus (2003) suggested Hoploparia to be a paraphyletic, ‘wastebasket’ genus (but see Feldmann et al. 2007).

Tshudy & Feldmann (1988) reported on new collections of H. stokesi made by William J. Zinsmeister, Carlos E. Macellari, Tonianne F. Pezzetti and Rodney M. Feldmann in the López de Bertodano Formation on Seymour Island during the 1981–82 and 1983–84 field seasons. In subsequent study of the material, Tshudy & Feldmann examined 91 specimens, some of which were restudied by Pinheiro et al. (2020). Most of these specimens were reposited in the USNM.

The numerical abundance of decapod remains in concretions of the López de Bertodano Formation, and similar concretions in the Sobral and La Meseta formations of the Antarctic Peninsula (e.g., Ball 1960; Feldmann & Zinsmeister 1984; Feldmann 1985; Feldmann & Tshudy 1987; Feldmann & Wilson 1988; Tshudy & Feldmann 1988; Feldmann et al. 1993), combined with the observation that many, even moulted, specimens (Feldmann & Tshudy 1987; Fig. 1b), are preserved largely in articulated condition, is noteworthy. Combined, the BMNH, FMNH, NRM, OSU and USNM collections contain at least 118 specimens of H. stokesi, and Feldmann et al. (1993: 8) reported that “several hundred specimens” had been collected in total. This number includes specimens previously unreferred in literature that are reposited at the PRI.

All the decapod samples reported here from the López de Bertodano and Sobral formations of Seymour Island (OSU 55325-55333) are preserved in dense, fine-grained, calcareous and glauconitic, quartz–sandstone concretions. This preservation is consistent with that of most previously reported decapod material from Seymour Island and elsewhere in the James Ross Basin area.

In addition to decapods, other invertebrates (Feldmann & Woodburne 1988) and trace fossils (Wiedman & Feldmann 1988) are represented by numerous specimens in the López de Bertodano, Sobral and La Meseta formations. The sheer abundance and richness of palaeontological information shown in decapod and other fossil remains in these strata qualify these deposits as Lagerstätten as defined by Seilacher et al. (1985).

Hoploparia specimens at The Ohio State University

The Ohio State University maintains extensive geological and palaeontological collections from Antarctica. Today, these collections are housed in two facilities: the OSU and the PRR.

Five specimens of H. stokesi referred to by Tshudy & Feldmann (1988: 292) were stated to be in the collection of The Ohio State University. Originally the specimens were retained in the Institute of Polar Studies, which later became the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. Eventually, many of the collections of the former Institute of Polar Studies were incorporated in the PRR. Three specimens of H. stokesi were identified by field numbers—37-3, K-150 and K-179—and two were without field numbers.

It was brought to our attention that one H. stokesi specimen from the Ohio State series had been misplaced and later recovered, which led to a search for the other specimens. These specimens, along with related correspondence, were found in the collections of the Polar Rock Repository, and the one stray specimen was reunited with the others from the series.

All the specimens in the series have been transferred to the OSU, which is The Ohio State University’s repository for type, illustrated and referred fossil material. Catalogue numbers have been assigned to the specimens. The field number 37-3 corresponds to OSU 55325, which comprises eight pieces, A-H. Field number K-150 corresponds to OSU 55326. Field number K-179 corresponds to OSU 55327. One specimen without a field number corresponds to OSU 55328. The other specimen without a field number corresponds to OSU 55329A (part) and 55329B (counterpart).

OSU 55329A, B provides new information about the size that H. stokesi could attain. This specimen is a large claw (Fig. 1a). It represents the largest individual of the species reported to date and one of the largest lobsters known from the fossil record. On the basis of smaller, more complete material (Fig. 1b), it can be extrapolated that this species could reach approximately 32 cm in outstretched length, excluding the antennules and antennae. Previously, Ball (1960: 6) reported that the average cephalothoracic length in this species is 33 mm, which extrapolates to an average overall length of approximately 10 cm, exclusive of the antennules and antennae.

In addition to the previously illustrated and referred material, two other specimens of H. stokesi, OSU 55331 (from field locality 784) and OSU 55332 (from field locality 164), plus an undetermined callianassid ghost shrimp (OSU 55333; labeled “C”)—all from the Sobral Formation (Paleocene) on Seymour Island—were also located in the Polar Rock Repository. These too have been transferred from the Polar Rock Repository to the OSU.

The OSU houses one more sample of H. stokesi. This specimen, OSU 55330 (from field locality K-21+), from the López de Bertodano Formation on Seymour Island, is part of the Carlos E. Macellari collection of Antarctic fossils (see Macellari 1986).

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Erica Brumbaugh for recovering one of the referred lobster specimens (OSU 55328); to Erica Maletic for assistance in relocating the other specimens; and to Rosemary Askin (Jackson, WY), Christena M. Cox (The Ohio State University), David H. Elliot (The Ohio State University), Lawrence A. Krissek (The Ohio State University), Tonianne F. Pezzetti (Sacramento, CA), Dale M. Tshudy (Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro), and Lawrence A. Wiedman (University of St. Francis, Fort Wayne, IN) for helpful insight into the provenance of some of the specimens reported here. Paul S. Mayer (FMNH) arranged a loan of the holotype of H. stokesi. Leslie Skibinski and Gregory P. Dietl (PRI) provided information about decapods from Seymour Island in the PRI collection. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript.

References

Aguirre Urretta M.B. 1989. The Cretaceous decapod Crustacea of Argentina and the Antarctic Peninsula. Palaeontology 32, 499–552.

Andersson J.G. 1906. On the geology of Graham Land. Bulletin of the Institution of the University of Upsala 7, 19–71, pls. 1–6.

Ball H.W. 1960. Upper Cretaceous Decapoda and Serpulidae from James Ross Island, Graham Land. Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, Scientific Reports 24, 1––30.

Crame J.A., Francis J.E., Cantrill D.J. & Pirrie D. 2004. Maastrichtian stratigraphy of Antarctica. Cretaceous Research 25, 411–423, doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2004.02.002.

Crame J.A., Pirrie D., Riding J.B. & Thomson M.R.A. 1991. Campanian–Maastrichtian (Cretaceous) stratigraphy of the James Ross Island area, Antarctica. Journal of the Geological Society 148, 1125–1140, doi: 10.1144/gsjgs.148.6.1125.

del Valle R.A. & Rinaldi C.A. 1975, Sobre la presencia de Hoploparia stokesi (Weller) en las “Snow Hill Island Series,” de la Isla Vicecomodora Marambio, Antartida. (About the presence of Hoploparia stokesi [Weller] in the “Snow Hill Series” of Vicecomodora Marambio Island, Antarctica.) Contribución del Instituto Antartico Argentino 190, 1–19.

Elliot D.H. 1988. Tectonic setting and evolution of the James Ross Basin, northern Antarctic Peninsula. In R.M. Feldmann & M.O. Woodburne (eds.): Geology and paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir 169. Pp. 541–556. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

El-Shazly S. 2015. Cretaceous–Tertiary Hoploparia species: occurrence, paleobiogeography and predation context. Journal of African Earth Sciences 112 Part A, 299–313, doi: 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.09.014.

Feldmann R.M. 1985. Decapod crustaceans from the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene of Seymour Island, Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 19(5), 4–5.

Feldmann R.M. 1987. Fossil lobsters from Seymour Island, Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 19(5), 11–13.

Feldmann R.M. 1988. Recent advances in the systematics and distribution of fossil lobsters from the Cretaceous and Paleocene of James Ross Basin, Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 23(5), 40–41.

Feldmann [misprinted as Feldman] R.M. 1990. Decapod crustaceans from James Ross Island, Antarctica. Antarctic Journal of the U.S. 25(5), 45–46.

Feldmann R.M. & Crame J.A. 1998. The significance of a new nephropid lobster from the Miocene of Antarctica. Palaeontology 41, 807–814.

Feldmann R.M., Schweitzer C.E., Redman C.M., Morris N.J. & Ward D.J. 2007. New Late Cretaceous lobsters from the Kyzylkum Desert of Uzbekistan. Journal of Paleontology 81, 701–713.

Feldmann R.M. & Tshudy D.M. 1987. Ultrastructure in cuticle from Hoploparia stokesi (Decapoda: Nephropidae) from the Lopez de Bertodano Formation (Late Cretaceous–Paleocene) of Seymour Island, Antarctica. Journal of Paleontology 61, 1194–1203, doi: 10.1017/S0022336000029565.

Feldmann R.M., Tshudy D.M. & Thomson M.R.A. 1993. Late Cretaceous and Paleocene decapod crustaceans from James Ross Basin, Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Paleontology 67(S28), 1–41, doi: 10.1017/S0022336000062077.

Feldmann R.M. & Wilson M.T. 1988. Eocene decapod crustaceans from Antarctica. In R.M. Feldmann & M.O. Woodburne (eds.): Geology and paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir 169. Pp. 541–556. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

Feldmann R.M. & Woodburne M.O. (eds.) 1988. Geology and paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir 169. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

Feldmann R.M. & Zinsmeister W.J. 1984. Fossil crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura) from the La Meseta Formation (Eocene) of Antarctica: paleoecologic and biogeographic implications. Journal of Paleontology 58, 1046–1061.

Hathway B. 2000. Continental rift to back-arc basin: Jurassic–Cretaceous stratigraphical and structural evolution of the Larsen Basin, Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of the Geological Society 157, 417–432, doi: 10.1144/jgs.157.2.417.

Macellari C.E. 1986. Late Campanian–Maastrichtian ammonite fauna from Seymour Island (Antarctic Peninsula). Journal of Paleontology 60(S18), 1–55.

Pinheiro A.P., Saraiva A.A.F., Santana W., Sayão J.M., Figueiredo R.G., Rodrigues T., Weinschütz L.C., Ponciano L.C.M. de O. & Kellner A.W.A. 2020. New Antarctic clawed lobster species (Crustacea: Decapoda: Nephropidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of James Ross Island. Polar Research 39, article no. 3727, doi: 10.33265/polar.v39.3727.

Rinaldi C.A. 1982. The Upper Cretaceous in the James Ross Island Group. In C. Craddock (ed.): Antarctic geoscience. Pp. 281–286. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Schweitzer C.E., Feldmann R.M., Garassino A., Karasawa H. & Schweigert G. 2010. Systematic list of fossil decapod crustacean species. Crustaceana Monographs 10. Leiden: Brill.

Seilacher A., Reif W.-E. & Westphal F. 1985. Sedimentological, ecological and temporal patterns of fossil Lagerstätten. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 311, 5–23.

Stokes F.W. 1903. An artist in the Antarctic. The Century Magazine, August, 521–528.

Taylor B.J. 1973. The cuticle of Cretaceous macrurous Decapoda from Alexander and James Ross Islands. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 35, 91–100.

Tshudy D.M. & Feldmann R.M. 1998. Macruran decapods, and their epibionts, from the López de Bertodano Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Seymour Island, Antarctica. In R.M. Feldmann & M.O. Woodburne (eds.): Geology and paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir 169. Pp. 291–391. Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

Tshudy D., Hyžný M., Dulai A. & Jagt J.W. 2018. Appraisal of the fossil record of Homarus (nephropid lobster), with description of a new species from the upper Oligocene of Hungary and remarks on the status of Hoploparia. Journal of Paleontology 92, 170–182, doi: 10.1017/jpa.2017.65.

Tshudy D. & Sorhannus U.L.F. 2003. Hoploparia, the best-known fossil clawed lobster (family Nephropidae), is a “wastebasket” genus. Journal of Crustacean Biology 23, 700–711, doi: 10.1651/C-2353.

Weller S. 1903a. The Stokes collection of Antarctic fossils. Journal of Geology 11, 413–419, doi: 10.1086/621086.

Weller S. 1903b. The Stokes collection of Antarctic fossils. Contributions of the Walker Museum 1, 65–71.

Wiedman L.A. & Feldmann R.M. 1988. Ichnofossils, tubiform body fossils, and depositional environment of the La Meseta Formation (Eocene) of Antarctica. In R.M. Feldmann & M.O. Woodburne (eds.): Geology and paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America, Memoir 169, 531–540.

Wilckens O. 1907. Die Lamellibranchiaten, Gastropoden etc. der oberen Kreide Südpatagoniens. (The Lamellibranchiata, Gastropoda etc. of the Upper Cretaceous of southern Patagonia.) Berichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Freiburg 15, 97–166.