Pachycheles spinidactylus Haig, 1957

Ferreira, Luciane Augusto De Azevedo & Anker, Arthur, 2021, An annotated and illustrated checklist of the porcelain crabs of Panama (Decapoda: Anomura), Zootaxa 5045 (1), pp. 1-154 : 55

Pachycheles spinidactylus Haig, 1957

( Fig. 27 )

Pachycheles spinidactylus Haig 1957a: 31 , pl. 7, figs. 1–4; Haig 1957b: 3; Haig 1960: 153, pl. 33, fig. 2; Gore 1982: 9; García- Madrigal & Andréu-Sánchez 2009: 29, fig. 2F; Moscoso 2012: 78, fig. 5B.

Material examined. Panama [ Pacific ]: 1 male, cl 4.7, cw 5.0 ( FLMNH UF 57130 ), Coiba Is ., Isla Coiba , northwest coast, small rocky island off Bahía Santa Cruz, 7°37’53.4”N, 81°46’44.9”W, intertidal rocky plateau, under rocks and in rock crevices, leg. M. Leray et al., 20.02.2019 (fcn PAN-149); 1 ov. female, cl 5.7, cw 6.1 ( FLMNH UF 57704 ), same collection data as for previous specimen (fcn PAN-152); 1 ov. female, cl 6.3, cw 7.3 ( MZUSP 33949 ); Las Perlas Is ., Isla Bartolomé , intertidal rocky platform and adjacent shallow subtidal, in crevices of rocks, dead and living corals, depth 0–1 m, leg. A. Anker, J. Luque, A.R. Palmer & T. Kaji, 18.04.2015; 1 ov. female, cl 8.1, cw 8.9 ( FLMNH UF 57131 ), Las Perlas Is ., Isla Bartolomé , 8°38’51.8”N, 79°02’17.3”W, rocky intertidal, inside rock crevices, leg., P.P.G. Pachelle & M. Leray, 24.03.2019 (fcn PP 19-081); 1 male, cl 8.0, cw 8.4 ( FLMNH UF 57132 ), same collection data as for previous specimen (fcn PP 19-096) .

Previous records from Panama. Haig (1960); Gore (1982).

Distribution. East Pacific: Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama (Coiba Is., Secas Is., Ciudad de Panamá, Las Perlas Is.), Colombia and Peru ( Haig 1960; Gore 1982; Moscoso 2012; present study).

Ecology. Rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal, known depth range: 0–8 m; typically deep in crevices of rocks and dead coral heads, sometimes under rocks or associated with (dead?) bivalves ( Haig 1960; García-Madrigal & Andréu-Sánchez 2009; present study).

Remarks. According to Haig (1960), Pachycheles spinidactylus is most closely related to the western Atlantic P. pilosus (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) , hitherto not reported from Panama, and the eastern Atlantic P. barbatus A. Milne-Edwards, 1878 . However, P. spinidactylus can be easily distinguished from both P. pilosus and P. barbatus by the telson seven-plated in males and five-plated or incompletely seven-plated in females vs. five-plated in both sexes in the other two species. Furthermore, the carapace of P. pilosus is covered by short setae and males of P. barbatus have pleopods, whereas in P. spinidactylus , the carapace is glabrous ( Fig. 27 ) and males are devoid of pleopods.

Figures

FIGURE 27. Pachycheles spinidactylus Haig, 1957: A–C, ovigerous female (cl 5.7 mm, cw 6.1 mm) from Coiba Island, Panama (FLMNH UF 57704), dorsal (A), ventral (B) and frontal (C) views [photographs by AA].