Maximality of Ciani curves over finite fields

In this paper, we will study Ciani curves in characteristic $p\ge 3$, in particular their standard forms $C:x^4+y^4+z^4+r{x}^2{y}^2+s{y}^2{z}^2+t{z}^2{x}^2=0$. It is well-known that any Ciani curve is a non-hyperelliptic curve of genus 3, and its Jacobian variety is isogenous to the product of three elliptic curves. As a main result, we will show that if C is superspecial, then $r,s,t$ belong to ${\mathbb{F}}_{p^2}$ and C is maximal or minimal over ${\mathbb{F}}_{p^2}$. Moreover, in this case we will provide a simple criterion in terms of $r,s,t,p$ that tells whether C is maximal (resp. minimal) over ${\mathbb{F}}_{p^2}$.