Leptalpheus hendrickxi Anker, 2011

Salgado-Barragán, José, Ayón-Parente, Manuel & Hendrickx, Michel E., 2014, A new species of Leptalpheus Williams, 1965 and new records of L. mexicanus Ríos & Carvacho, 1983 and L. hendrickxi Anker, 2011 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae) from the Pacific coast of Mexico, Zootaxa 3835 (4), pp. 573-582 : 581

Leptalpheus hendrickxi Anker, 2011

Figs. 7 A–E

Leptalpheus hendrickxi Anker 2011: 15 , figs. 11–14.

Material examined. 1 male (CL 9.5 mm) and 1 female (CL 8.2 mm), Estero Pérula, Chamela, Jalisco, Mexico, 19°35'22" N, 105°08'07” W, sand-mud flat, near mangroves, yabby pump, 0.1–0.3 m at low tide, 7 March 2013 (EMU-10053); 1 male (CL 7.5 mm) and 1 female (CL 9.9 mm), same locality, 17 June 2013 ( LEMA CR 57); 2 males (CL 5.4 and 8.7 mm) and 1 female (CL 5.3 mm), same locality and date, 17 June 2013 (EMU-10054).

Ecology. Most specimens were collected together with Leptalpheus corderoae sp. nov., from burrows of Lepidophthalmus bocourti , as well as from an unidentified host burrowing near mangroves close to burrows of Upogebia dawsoni .

Remarks. Specimens collected in Estero Pérula fit well to the description and illustrations of L. hendrickxi provided by Anker (2011) and a few small differences observed in our specimens may be related to size. In large specimens from Estero Pérula, the stylocerite may slightly exceeds the anterior margin of the first antennular article ( Figs. 7 A, B), whilst in specimens of Panama it does not. The propodus of the fifth pereiopod ( Fig. 7 E) bears seven rows of ventrodistal setae (instead of five illustrated in the Panama material), but this might be a normal variation for this species which is not well known. In large specimens, the armature of the merus and propodus of the major cheliped is more pronounced, with an additional row of granules extending from the mesial surface of the propodus to the ventral surface of the pollex ( Fig. 7 C). The collection of L. hendrickxi in Jalisco, Mexico, represents a significant extension of the species’ distribution range by ca. 3000 km (= 11° of latitude) to the north.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Leptalpheus hendrickxi Anker, 2011 (A, C, D, E, EMU- 10054; B, LEMA-CR 57). A, B, anterior part of carapace and appendages, dorsal view; C, major cheliped, lateral view; D, minor cheliped, lateral view. Scale bars = 1 mm.