Mesokalliapseudes bahamensis Sieg, 1982

Abarca-Ávila, Mónica Mariel, Herrera-Dorantes, María Teresa, Winfield, Ignacio & Ardisson, Pedro-Luis, 2019, Updated checklist and identification key of benthic tanaidaceans (Crustacea Peracarida) of the sublittoral zone of the northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Zootaxa 4711 (1), pp. 51-76 : 55-56

♣ Mesokalliapseudes bahamensis Sieg, 1982

Material examined. TA: 150 individuals. CNCR 34804 . Tr-Loc : Madagascar, Yucatan, Mexico, 21°26’30.12’’N 90°17’25.9’’W, six individuals, 29 May 2012, coll . GR, IW, MA, UP, collected at 15 m depth ; Tr-Loc : Sisal, Yucatan, Mexico, 21°20’54.4’’N 90°08’52.5’’W, three individuals, 30 May 2012, coll . GR, IW, MA, UP, collected at 9 m depth ; Tr-Loc : Tanchit, Yucatan, Mexico, 21°21’53.3’’N 90°04’05.4’’W, 25 individuals, 31 May 2012, coll . GR, IW, MA, UP, collected at 8 m depth ; Tr-Loc : Bajo Diez, Yucatan, Mexico, 21°20’50.8’’N 90°08’53.0’’W, 23 individuals, 04 June 2012, coll . GR, IW, MA, UP, collected at 11 m depth ; Tr-Loc : Bocacha, Yucatan, Mexico, 21°19’17.3’’N 90°20’02.6’’W, 92 individuals, 04 June 2012, coll . GR, IW, MA, UP, collected at 8 m depth ; Tr-Loc : Bocana, Yucatan, Mexico, 21°13’56.5’’N 89°53’20.1’’W, one individual, 06 June 2012, coll . GR, IW, MA, UP, collected at 1 m depth .

Local distribution. Consult Cházaro-Olvera et al. (2018).

Geographical distribution. Atlantic Ocean: coastal waters from South Carolina to southeast Florida, Isla El Salvador, Bahamas; GoM: Veracruz Reef System National Park, Bajos de Sisal Reef System; Caribbean Sea: Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, Puerto Morelos Reef National Park, Quintana Roo.

Recognition characters. Rounded rostrum; without eyes; mandibular palp, maxilliped and chela with carpus and propodus with a row of long plumose setae on inner margin; mandibular palp with one simple terminal setae; chela with fixed finger less than a third of the length of the dactylus.

Remarks. It inhabits the first 100 m perpendicular to the shoreline, associated with seagrasses such as Thalassia Banks ex König , coral reefs, algae such as Caulerpa racemosa (Forsskål) J, Agardh, D. delicatula , D. dichotoma , Hypnea spinella (C.Agardh) Kützing , cnidarians such as Pterogorgia guadalupensis Duchassaing & Michelin , sponges such as C. foliacea , in coral rubble, sand, mud and silt, at depths 3 to 52 m. It is a filter-feeder species, consuming fine particles.

References. Sieg (1982); Heard et al. (2004); Guţu (2006); Heard & Anderson (2009); Drumm & Heard (2010); Drumm & Heard (2011); Winfield et al. (2013); Monroy-Velázquez et al. (2017); Winfield et al. (2017); Cházaro- Olvera et al. (2018); Stępień et al. (2018).