Goniopsis cruentata ( Latreille, 1803 )

Parasram, Nadeshinie, Santana, William & Vallès, Henri, 2021, Updated checklist of semi-terrestrial and estuarine crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) of Barbados, West Indies, Zootaxa 5052 (4), pp. 451-485 : 469-471

Goniopsis cruentata ( Latreille, 1803)

Fig. 11 A, B

Grapsus cruentatus Latreille, 1803: 70 (type-locality: South America; type in MNHN).

Grapsus longipes Randall, 1840: 125 [type-locality: Surinam].

Grapsus pelii Herklots, 1851: 8 , pl. 1, figs. 6, 7 [type-locality: “prope Boutry”, Ghana].

Goniopsis cruentata —Rathbun 1900: 15, pl. 1; 1918: 236, pl. 57; 1920: 18; 1921: 77; 1933: 87, fig. 81. Hartnoll 1965: 113–115. Chace & Hobbs 1969: 160, figs. 49 & 52 d–f. Keith 1985: 270, fig. 10 C. Melo 1996: 449, unnumbered figure. Coelho et al. 2008: 39. Ng et al. 2008: 216. García & Capote 2015: 17, fig. 8 b. Poupin 2018: 224, fig. 255. Mantelatto et al. 2020: 20, fig. 6 B.

Material examined. Barbados, Archers Bay , St. Lucy, coastal wetland, 13̊ 19’41.9412” N–59̊ 37’50.4444” W, 1 ♂ CW: 38.5 mm ( BLSZ 113 ). Idem, 1 ♀ ovig, CW: 34.6 mm ( BLSZ 114 ) .

Distribution. Goniopsis cruentata is found in the Western and Eastern Atlantic. In the Western Atlantic: Bermuda, Florida, Bahamas, Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Barbados, Isla de Providencia, Curaçao, Islas Los Roques, Trinidad, Venezuela, Suriname, and Estado de Sao Paulo Brazil. In the Eastern Atlantic: from Senegal to Northern Angola ( Chace & Hobbs 1969; García & Capote 2015; Poupin 2018).

Distribution in Barbados. Archers Bay and Long Pond [ Table 1 (Site #s: 1 & 3)].

Habitat in Barbados. Coastal wetlands; inside the crevices of coral limestone formations and in a semi-dry mudflat area ( Figs. 2A : A, B; 2B: J).

Ecological notes. One specimen of Goniopsis cruentata was seen at the Long Pond coastal wetland in February 2019 during a night-time sampling period. The crab was motionless at the edge of a Cardisoma guanhumi burrow. When approached, the crab quickly scurried into the burrow; efforts made to catch the crab were unsuccessful and repeated visits to the same site failed to reveal other specimens. However, one female (ovig) was collected in September 2020 from the Archer’s Bay coastal wetland. Goniopsis cruentata is very difficult to collect by hand or hand nets; instead, crab traps ( Fig. 3C ) baited with sardines and set for a twenty-four-hour sampling period were found to be most effective. Goniopsis cruentata was found inhabiting the crevices of a coral limestone cliff formation. Goniopsis cruentata is typically found in mangrove swamps throughout its range ( Hartnoll 1965; Von Hagen 1977; Mckeon & Feller 2004; Rodriguez de Lira et al. 2013; Hirose et al. 2015; Poupin 2018). However, the present study did not collect Goniopsis cruentata in mangrove habitats. Today, the mangrove habitats in Barbados consist of small patches (see Table 1 ) of remnant forests, which were once widespread, but were largely cleared to make space for agriculture and other development.

Remarks. Rathbun (1918), reported one female specimen collected by H.M. Lefroy in a mangrove swamp at Brandons on the west coast of Barbados; this specimen is stored at the USNM under the catalogue number 26410. It was collected before the Barbados-Antigua Expedition in 1918; however, no date was provided by Rathbun. The Barbados-Antigua expedition collected three males and one female specimen of Goniopsis cruentata from a different mangrove swamp in Bridgetown, Barbados. These specimens were deposited at the USNM (Catalogue # 58003).

Figures

FIGURE 2A. Semi-terrestrial and estuarine habitats of Barbados. A, B, Coastal Wetlands; C, D, Rocky Shores (Photos: N. Parasram).

FIGURE 3. Sampling methodologies used for specimen collection. A, Baited onion bag trap (0.95 m x 0.55 m; mesh size: 0.5 mm); B, Large crab trap (B:1.0 x 0.40 m; mesh size: 50 x 40 mm); C, Small cage crab trap (C: 0.5 x 0.2 m, mesh size: 30 x 15 mm); D, Hand nets (diameter: 60 mm; mesh size: 0.1 mm); E, Fruit bait outside of crab burrow.

FIGURE 11. Habitus of Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille, 1803) (BLSZ 114). A, B dorsal view of male and female (ovig); C, D ventral view of female (ovig) and male. Scale bar: 20 mm.