Coenobita clypeatus ( Fabricius, 1787 )

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 : 456-457

Coenobita clypeatus ( Fabricius, 1787)

( Figs. 1A , 2 , Tab. 2)

Pagurus clypeatus Fabricius, 1787 (type locality by neotype selection by McLaughlin, 2002: Batali River, N of Savane, Dominican Republic); ICZN, 2003: 235.

Coenobita clypeatus .—Chace & Hobbs, 1969: 123, figs 33, 34b, c.—McLaughlin, 2002: 17; ICZN, 2003: 235.

New material. 2 dry specimens in shells (not sexed or measured), Brazil, W. J. Broderip collection (NHM B2195, NHM B2196); 2 females 5.3–6.8 mm, Boca Grande, Florida Keys ( ULLZ 10106), 4 females 3.4–3.9 mm, 1 male 4.3 mm, Loggerhead Key, Florida Keys, 25 Aug 1981, coll. Felder, Camp, et al. ( ULLZ 15013). See also Table 2.

Diagnosis. See Chace & Hobbs (1969).

Distribution. Tropical western Atlantic: from Bermuda; central (Lakeland, Lake Kissimeee) and southeastern Florida (Fort Lauderdale to Biscayne Bay), and Florida Keys; Gulf of Mexico, on the Florida Keys, and Yucatán to Tamaulipas, Mexico; Caribbean, from the Antilles, and coasts of Central and South America to Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago (see Remarks). This is a terrestrial species that prefers dry, hard soil at some distance from the sea, although the larvae must develop in seawater. It has been reported in altitudes of 887 m above sea level ( Wilde 1973).

Remarks. The complex taxonomic history of this West Indian land crab known for nearly a century under the name Coenobita clypeatus , was discussed by McLaughlin (2002), who fixed the name by selecting a neotype for Pagurus clypeatus Fabricius (1787) . Although the nomenclature was stabilized by that action, the northern and southern limits of the natural distribution of this common semiterrestrial species widely used in the pet trade have remained obscure or at least the extreme localities unconfirmed. To the north ( Fig. 2 ), this species has been reported in the eastern Gulf of Mexico only from the Florida Keys (Felder et al. 2009, pers. comm.), and on the western Gulf of Mexico it was first reported by Allen (1979) from Isla Lobos, Veracruz, Mexico, although it is now known from as far north on the Mexican coast as Matamoros, Tamaulipas State (Rodríguez-Almaraz & Zavala- Flores 2005). Most accounts of this species cite only “Florida” or “southern Florida” as the northern limit, without stating any precise locality or listing any specimens from the northern limits (e.g., Chace & Hobbs 1969; Sánchez & Campos 1978; Rodríguez 1980; Abele & Kim 1986), although Provenzano (1959, 1962) did report specimens from Indian Key, Key Largo in the Florida Keys, and Biscayne Bay. Other than Provenzano’s records from Biscayne Bay, no other formal records of naturally occurring populations of C. clypeatus further north on the southeast Florida coast can be found in the scientific literature. Based on specimens found in the USNM collections (Table 2), this species is now herein reported further north in southeastern Florida from Fort Lauderdale (1 female 2.7 mm collected in 1924, USNM 59348), and in central Florida near Lake Kissimee, Osceola County (1 male 4.2 mm, collected in the late 1950s, USNM 102603), and Lakeland, Polk County (1 female 6.3 mm, lacking collecting date, USNM 265321).

The exact southern distributional limit of Coenobita clypeatus is not any clearer in the literature than the northern limit. Some studies have indicated the southern limit to be “ Venezuela ” (e.g., Provenzano 1959; Sánchez & Campos 1978; Rodríguez 1980; Abele & Kim 1986), whereas others have vaguely indicated “ Brazil ” (e.g., Rathbun 1920; Chace & Hobbs 1969, with question; Allen 1979), or even “southern Brazil ” ( Provenzano 1962), without listing any specimens or exact locality. Indeed, given the tropical conditions along the coast from Venezuela to northern Brazil, it would seem possible that the terrestrial C. clypeatus could occur from Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, to several northern states of Brazil. However, there are no reports of specimens of C. clypeatus from the former three countries, and this species is not included in modern biodiversity summaries or inventories of decapods from Brazil that have been based on decades of collections (e.g., Melo 1999; Rieger 1998, 1999; Coelho et al. 2007).

It appears that the inclusion in some studies of Brazil in the distribution of C. clypeatus originated from earlier reports by Verrill (1908: 438, fig. 55, as Cenobita Diogenes [sic.]), who based his distribution on Smith (1869: 38, as Cenobita Diogenes [sic.]), and who in turn based his on White’s (1847: 61, as Cenobita Diogenes [sic.]) report of 19 specimens as: “f–x. In different kinds of shells. Brazil. From the collection of Mr. Broderip”. William John Broderip (1789–1859) was a lawyer and naturalist, and enthusiastic shell collector whose specimens in his unrivaled conchological cabinet were ultimately purchased by the British Museum ( Boase 1886). Seven of White’s specimens of C. clypeatus were located (dry) in the Mollusca section of the NHM, two of which were inside shells of Melongena melongena ( Fig. 1A ), a gastropod known to have a southern limit of distribution in Suriname ( Rosenberg 2009). There is no evidence that Broderip visited Brazil to collect (L.R. Simone, pers. comm.), although he did mention fossils from Brazil in his “Leaves from the note book of a naturalist” ( Broderip 1852). He also studied cirripedes and mollusks based on collections obtained by the officers of the HMS Adventure and Beagle in South America ( King & Broderip 1832), and it is possible that his specimens of C. clypeatus deposited in the NHM were obtained on those ships. However, the former ship explored only the Pacific, whereas the only ports visited by the latter in eastern South America were Fernando de Noronha Island, Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro ( Papavero 1973). Based on the fact that despite intensive sampling such a common and conspicuous species as C. clypeatus has never been collected in modern times from the coast of Brazil, and that the southern limit of the species of gastropod ( M. melongena ) in which Broderip’s specimens were found is Suriname, we conclude that it is highly doubtful that C. clypeatus occurs in Brazil. Broderip’s specimens of C. clypeatus reported by White (1847) as from “ Brazil ”, may have been obtained or purchased, but not directly collected, by officers of the Beagle, and thus the collecting locality of Broderip’s specimens supposedly from “ Brazil ”, cannot be confirmed.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distribution of Coenobita clypeatus (Fabricius, 1787), based on specimens deposited in USNM (black circles), and records by Rodríguez-Almaraz & Zavala-Flores (2005) from Matamoros and Tampico, Mexico (stars). For localities indicated in black circles, see Table 2.

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).