Banareia palmeri ( Rathbun, 1894 )

In, First Published, 2022, Brachyuran crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the remote oceanic Archipelago Trindade and Martin Vaz, South Atlantic Ocean, Zootaxa 5146, pp. 1-129 : 60

Banareia palmeri ( Rathbun, 1894)

( Fig. 31A–F )

Actaea palmeri Rathbun, 1894: 85 [Type locality: Rodriguez Creek , Florida].

Trindade specimens. 1 juvenile female ( MZUSP 39576 ), Brazil, off Espírito Santo, Trindade Island, Ponta do Monumento , 20º30’10.3”S, 29º20’36.1”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 30.vi. 2013, 19.5 m .

Size of largest female: cl 5.9 mm, cw 7.1 mm.

Comparative material examined. Banareia palmeri : United States: 1 male ( USNM 214944 ) , off North Carolina, 33º30’48”N, 77º24’36”W, 1.viii.1981, 30 m. 1 female ( USNM 45575 ) , Bahamas, Andros Island, Golding Key , 24º14’00”N, 77º38’03”W, P. Bartsch coll., 1912. 1 male ( USNM 53765 ) , Virgin Islands, St. Thomas , 18º20’01”N, 64º55’43”W, C. Schoemaker coll., 11.vii.1915, in harbor, from sponge [M. J. Rathbun det.] . Brazil: Rio Grande do Norte: 1 male, 1 juvenile female ( MZUSP 7203 ) , R/V “ Almirante Saldanha ”, stn 1657, 05º33’S, 35º00’W, 8.x.1967, 53 m.

Distribution. Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Antilles, Caribbean coast of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil (Pará to Espírito Santo) ( Melo 1996; Goméz-Lemos et al. 2008; Felder et al. 2009; Diez García 2014). Brazilian oceanic islands: Rocas Atoll ( Paiva et al. 2007) and Trindade (this study).

Ecological notes. Banareia palmeri is rare in the collections. It has been reported in association with the coral Porites furcata Lamarck and sponges (Rathbun, 1924; Boone 1930b, respectively). The male USNM 53765 from St. Thomas was found in association with a sponge (see above under comparative material examined). The juvenile female from Trindade was found in association with the octocoral Plexaurella regia Castro (Tavares et al. 2017: 158, fig. 1E). Felder et al. (2009) reported B. palmeri from rubble to depths of 145 m.

Remarks. The young Brazilian specimens (Rio Grande do Norte and Trindade, see above under comparative material) are distinctly less coated with setae when compared to the thick coated adults from northern localities ( Fig. 31A–F ). Additionally, the juvenile female from Trindade ( Fig. 31A, B ) differs in that the cheliped fingers cross in closed position and the longitudinal rows of granules on the lateral lower part of the cheliped propodus are rather inconspicuous, whereas the lateral lower part of the cheliped propodus has well marked rows of granules, even in the young specimens of about the same size from Rio Grande do Norte. More material from Trindade is needed to judge if these differences warrant recognition of a new species.

Figures

FIGURE 31. A–F, Banareia palmeri (Rathbun, 1894).A, B, Juvenile female, cl 5.6 m, cw 7.3 mm (MZUSP 39576). C, D, Male, cl 6.1 m, cw 8.3 mm (MZUSP 7203). E, F, Female, cl 15.5 m, cw 24 mm (USNM 45575). Note in (B) cheliped fingers crossed in closed position, less so in (F) and fingers not crossing in (D). Scales: A–F, 5 mm. Photographs (E, F) by J. Colavite.