Pitho aculeata (Gibbes, 1850)

(Figs. 12A–E)

Hyas aculeata Gibbes, 1850: 171 [type-locality: Florida].

Othonia aculeata .— Stimpson, 1859: 49; A. Milne-Edwards 1880: 115.

Pitho aculeata — Rathbun 1897: 7; A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier 1923: 395; Rathbun 1924: 19; 1925: 357, pl. 127, 251, fig. 1; Rodríguez 1980: 274; Keith 1985: 261, fig. 6A; Ng et al. 2008: 106; Windsor & Felder 2014: 148, tab. 1, 156, 157, fig. 3M, 4N; Carmona-Suárez & Poupin 2016: 376, fig. 8F; Poupin 2018: 197.

Distribution. Western Atlantic: USA (Florida), Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Martin, Guadeloupe, Barbados, Los Frailes, Los Roques, Tortuga, Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba, and Venezuela (Rathbun 1925; Carmona-Suárez & Poupin 2016; Poupin 2018; present study).

Material examined. Barbados, Old Chefette, St. James, subtidal, 13°10’45.13”N, 59°38’25.62”W, 1 Ô CW: 9.4 mm (BLSZ 186) . Batts Rock, St. Michael, subtidal, 13°08’04.81”N, 59°38’12.30”W, 1 Ô CW: 7.0 mm (MZUSP 40908) . Reeds Bay, St. James, subtidal, 13°13’09.10”N, 59°38’32.44”W, 1 Ô CW: 9.7 mm (BLSZ 049) .

Remarks. This is the first record of Pitho aculeata for Barbados. Caught in crab traps (~ 4m deep) placed on sandy bottoms on the west coast of Barbados. Pitho aculeata can be identified by frontal teeth obtuse with rounded tips. Palm of cheliped swollen in adult males; tooth near the base of the dactylus. Merus and ischium of third maxilliped with granules (modified from Rathbun 1925).