Leptalpheus axianassae Dworschak & Coelho, 1999

Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Anker, Arthur, Mendes, Cecili B. & Bezerra, Luis E. A., 2016, Decapod crustaceans from the state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil: an updated checklist of marine and estuarine species, with 23 new records, Zootaxa 4131 (1), pp. 1-63 : 10

Leptalpheus axianassae Dworschak & Coelho, 1999

( Figure 6 A, B)

Leptalpheus axianassae Dworschak & Coelho 1999: 477 , figs. 1–30.

Material examined. Brazil, Ceará: 1 male, MZUSP 33457, Paracuru, Rio Curu estuary, mud flat, in burrow, suction pump, coll. P.P.G. Pachelle & H. Matthews-Cascon, 29.iv.2014 [fcn PP 14-044].

Distribution. Western Atlantic: USA (Florida) and Brazil (Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia , São Paulo) ( Felder et al. 2003; Almeida et al. 2012; present study).

Remarks. Leptalpheus axianassae lives in burrows of the axianassid mud-shrimp, Axianassa australis Rodrigues & Shimizu, 1992 (see below). Our single specimen of L. axianassae was collected without the host; however, several specimens of A. australis were extracted from surrounding burrows in the collecting area. The pale reddish colouration of L. axianassae ( Fig. 6 A, B) is typical for members of the genus Leptalpheus Williams 1965 .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Leptalpheus axianassae Dworschak & Coelho, 1999 (A, B) and Leptalpheus forceps Williams, 1965 (C): A, B, male from Paracuru, Ceará, Brazil (MZUSP 33457), in lateral (A) and dorsal (B) views; C, ovigerous female from Mundaú, Ceará, Brazil (OUMNH. ZC. 2012 - 10 - 0027), in lateral view. Scale bars: 2 mm. Photographs by P. P. G. Pachelle (A, B) and A. Anker (C).