Bathynarius anomalus ( A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1893 )

Lemaitre, Rafael & Tavares, Marcos, 2015, New taxonomic and distributional information on hermit crabs (Crustacea: Anomura: Paguroidea) from the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic coast of South America, Zootaxa 3994 (4), pp. 451-506 : 467-468

Bathynarius anomalus ( A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1893)

( Fig. 1 C)

Clibanarius anomalus A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1893: 157 , pl. 11, figs 13–23 (type locality: Barbados). Bathynarius anomalus .— Forest, 1989: 763, figs. 1, 4b, 5b, d, g, j, k, 7b, 8b.— McLaughlin et al., 2010: 18.

Type material. Holotype ov female (not examined) 8 mm, Hassler, Barbados, 183 m, MCZ.

New material. Bermuda. S shore, about 2 miles off Tuckers Town, trap, 200–220 m, 16 Aug 1975, coll. J. Markham: 2 males 3.1, 6.7 mm ( USNM 154617).

Bahamas. North Bimini, sta 8, 25°43’58”N, 79°19’25”W, 300 m, 13 May 2005: 1 male 3.7 mm, 2 females 2.8, 3.6 mm, 1 ov female 3.6 mm ( USNM 1106027); New Providence Island, off Goulding's Cay, JSL-II-2587, 25°02’30 N, 35°12’W, coll. M. Harasewych & T. Askew, submersible, 518 m, 25 May 1995: 2 females 2.7, 4.5 mm ( USNM 275959).

Caribbean Sea. Mexico, Quintana Roo, Yucatan Channel, Arrowsmith Bank, R/V Gerda , sta cruise 7028, sta 1270, 21°05’N, 86°31’W, 207– 430 m, 20 Aug 1970: 6 males 3.0– 5.8 mm, 3 females 3.0–4.0 mm ( USNM 276093); Colombia, SE of Serrana Bank, R/V Oregon, sta 4834, 14°14’12”N, 80°28’30”W, 274– 293 m, 12 May 1964: 1 male 5.2 mm ( USNM 122456).

Curaçao. Curasub 12–08, [no depth recorded], 28 May 2012: 1 female 3.0 mm ( USNM 1253288); Curasub 12–09, [no depth recorded], 29 May 2012: 1 male 3.7 mm, CURI 12038 ( USNM 1253287); Curasub 12–11, 220 m, 6 Aug 2012: 1 male 4.5 mm, CURI 12079 ( USNM 1253286), 1 male 5.5 CURI 12080 ( USNM 1253279), 1 female 4.0 mm, CURI 12081 ( USNM 1253276), 1 female 4.9 mm, CURI 12084 ( USNM 1253277), 1 male 2.8 mm, CURI 12086 ( USNM 1253280), 1 male 4.0 mm, CURI 12088 ( USNM 1253278); Curasub 12–12, 290 m, 7 Aug 2012: 1 male 3.6 mm, CURI 12126 ( USNM 1253282), 1 male 4.1 mm, CURI 12128, ( USNM 1253283), 1 ov. female 4.0 mm, CURI 12129 ( USNM 1253281); Curasub 12–04, 265 m, 23 May 2012: 1 male 3.3 mm, CURI 12098 ( USNM 1253284); Curasub 12–14, 123.1– 256 m, 9 Aug 2012: 1 female 4.8 mm ( USNM 1253285).

Diagnosis. See Forest (1989).

Distribution. Northwestern Atlantic: from Straits of Florida, Bahamas, and Caribbean Sea. Depth: 150 to 472 m.

Color ( Fig. 1 C). General background coloration of thorax and thoracic appendages white. Shield white with light orange portions medially on anterior third and on each side posteriorly. Posterior carapace white except for light orange portions on posteromedian and posterolateral plates. Ocular peduncles light orange or yellowish; cornea bright yellow with black spots. Antennules with basal and penultimate segments light yellow, ultimate segment bright yellow. Antennae with peduncles white, flagella light orange. Chelipeds white and covered with numerous small orange spots; fingers becoming orangish distally. Ambulatory legs (second and third pereopods) similarly colored as chelipeds on ischia, meri and carpi; propodus white-light orange; dactyls orange. Fourth and fifth pereopods white.

Remarks. Forest (1989) redescribed this species in detail when he placed Clibanarius anomalus in his new genus Bathynarius Forest, 1989 . He used preserved specimens for his documentation of color in B. anomalus , although in a footnote added color notes obtained from P.A. McLaughlin that were presumably based on live specimens. However, the notes included by Forest differ from our observations of live specimens collected in Curaçao on board the Curasub. Forest (1989: 766, 784) describes a general coloration consisting of a light salmonpink, and pink ocular peduncles, antennules and antennae, whereas our live specimens are distinctly white with numerous orange spots, with an orange color on distal portions of cheliped fingers, and meri and dactyls of ambulatory legs ( Fig. 1 C). It would appear that McLaughlin’s notes were also based on preserved specimens albeit perhaps not as old as Forest’s, and thus the coloration of B. anomalus presented herein is the first actually based on live specimens.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A, Coenobita clypeatus (Fabricius, 1787), in gastropod Melongena melongena: dry specimens [not sexed or measured], W. J. Broderip collection (NHM B 2195, NHM B 2196); B, Allodardanus bredini Haig & Provenzano, 1965, female 10.1 mm, in gastropod shell, Curaçao, Curasub 13 – 21 (USNM 1253325); C, Bathynarius anomalus (A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1893), in gastropod shell, male, 4.0 mm, Curaçao 12 – 11, CURI 12088 (USNM 1253278); D, Paguristes spinipes A. Milne-Edwards, 1880, in gastropod shell: male 4.8 mm, Curaçao, Curasub 12 – 03, CURI 12040 (USNM 1253258); E, Pylopagurus discoidalis (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880), in scaphopod shells: male 6.3 mm (right), 1 female 5.1 mm (center), 1 ov female 5.8 mm (left), Curaçao, Curasub 12 – 09 (right and center specimens: CURI 12030, CURI 12031, USNM 1253259; left specimen USNM 1253260). (Photos: A, H. Taylor, NHM; B – E, B. B. Brown, Curaçao Seaquarium). Scale: 20 mm (A).