Callinectes bocourti A. Milne-Edwards, 1879

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 : 460-461

Callinectes bocourti A. Milne-Edwards, 1879

Fig. 4 A, B, C, D

Cancer pelagicus de Geer, 1778: 427 , pl. 26, figs. 8–11 [not C. pelagicus Linnaeus 1758 ].

Callinectes diacanthus var. cayennensis A. Milne-Edwards, 1879: 226 . [type-locality: ( French ) Guiana; type in MNHN].

Callinectes bocourti A. Milne-Edwards, 1879: 226 [type material: 2 syntypes in MNHN, Mullins River, ( British Honduras)].— Rathbun 1896: 360: pl. 16; pl. 24, fig. 7; pl. 25, fig. 6; pl. 26, fig. 6; 1900: 49; 1930: 128, figs. 15g, 16e, 17h, 18f, Pl. 55; 1933: 49. Chace & Hobbs 1969: 127, fig. 35 & 37a. Williams 1974: 766, figs. 12, 18j, 20m, 22j, 27; 1984: 365, figs. 293 f, 294. Melo 1996: 313, unnumbered figure. Almerigi et al. 1999: 30. Coelho et al. 2008: 28 . Ng et al. 2008: 150. Poupin 2018: 206. Mantelatto et al. 2020: 62 , fig. 18E.

Material examined. Barbados, Long Pond , St. Andrew, coastal wetland, 13̊ 15’40.6” N–59̊ 33’22.94” W, 3 ♂ CW: 97.5; 135.0; 136.0 mm ( BLSZ 085 ) . Idem , 2 ♀ CW: 109.1; 102.1 mm ( BLSZ 007 ) . Idem , 1 ♂ (Juv) CW: 38.7 mm ( BLSZ 082 ) . Idem , 1 ♀ (Juv) CW: 64.1 mm ( BLSZ 083 ) . Idem , 1 ♂ CW: 62.9 mm ( BLSZ 084 ) . Barbados, Maycocks , St. Lucy, coastal wetland, 13̊ 17’22.5456” N–59̊ 38’56.732” W, 1 ♀ CW: 71.7 mm ( BLSZ 108 ) .

Distribution. Callinectes bocourti is found in the Western Atlantic: Florida, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Croix, St Martin, St Barthélemy, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, Barbados, British Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Tobago, Trinidad, Panama, Margarita, Bonaire, Cura ҫao, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, Republic of Guyana, French Guiana, and Brazil ( Rathbun 1930; Chace & Hobbs 1969; Williams 1974; Melo 1996; Poupin 2018).

Distribution in Barbados. Archers Bay, Green Pond, Long Pond, and Maycocks [ Table 1 (Site #s: 1, 2, 3 & 27)].

Habitat in Barbados. Coastal wetlands in brackish water rivers and streams with sandy and muddy bottoms, from shallow water to 2 m deep. Salinity ranges from ~ 0–45 ppt ( Fig. 2A : A, B).

Ecological notes. Callinectes bocourti is quite abundant in the Long Pond wetland. Specimens were caught both during the day and night; however, they are easier to catch at night due to their congregation in large numbers on the edges of the pond, where they feed on juvenile Palaemon pandaliformis ( Stimpson, 1871) and Oreochromis mossambicus [( Peters, 1852) (N. Parasram, Pers. Obs.)]. During the day, Callinectes bocourti can be seen in smaller numbers feeding along the edges of the Long Pond and Green Pond coastal wetlands. Throughout the rainy season, the bank of the Long Pond wetland overflows and numerous smaller ponds are formed outside of the main pond system; when this occurs, juvenile Callinectes bocourti also occupy these shallow areas (0.3 m deep). Three mating pairs were seen in February 2020 during a night survey at Long Pond. Callinectes bocourti were caught with baited traps ( Fig. 3A, B ), hand nets ( Fig. 3D ), cast nets, and seine nets. Callinectes bocourti was collected along with Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 , and Callinectes danae Smith, 1869 , at the Long Pond wetland.

Remarks. Williams (1974) reported one (1) male specimen collected by P.W. Hummelinck from an unknown river pool in Holetown in 1964. This specimen is stored at the USNM under the catalogue number 23456. Two morphotypes of Callinectes bocourti were collected during the present study in Barbados. Locally, this species is important in subsistence fishing (N. Parasram, Pers. Obs.). Regionally, Callinectes bocourti is of commercial importance throughout the Caribbean and South America ( Venezuela, Suriname, and Brazil). However, landing statistics are not collected separately for this species; instead, it is included in the statistics for all Callinectes spp. caught for consumption (Gore & Grizzle 1974; Williams 1974; Tavares 2002).

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 4. Habitus of Callinectes bocourti A. Milne-Edwards, 1879 (BLSZ 112, BLSZ 133). A, B, dorsal view of male and juvenile female; C, D, ventral view of male and juvenile female. Scale bar: 20 mm.