Synalpheus herricki Coutière, 1909

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 52-56

Synalpheus herricki Coutière, 1909

( Figs 34–37 )

Synalpheus herricki Coutière 1909: 74 , fig. 44; Chace 1972: 93; Peguegnat & Ray 1974: 248 (partim); Dardeau 1984: 55, figs 27–30; Abele & Kim 1986: 202, 222–223, figs a–c;

Zuzalpheus herricki Ríos & Duffy 2007: 34 , pl. 3.

Synalpheus herricki angusticeps Coutière 1909: 76 , fig. 45.

Synalpheus herricki dimidiatus Coutière 1909: 76 , fig. 46.

? Synalpheus tanneri Coutière 1909: 77 , fig. 47; Chace 1972: 104.

Synalpheus brooksi — Christoffersen 1979: 335 (partim) (not S. brooksi Coutière, 1909 ).

For more exhaustive synonymy see Dardeau (1984).

Material examined. St. Martin: 1 ov. female, FLMNH UF 32411 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 56, Chicot , windward side of Tintamarre Island, in unidentified verongid sponge [host fcn BSTM-1418], coll. A. Anker, J.F. Maréchal, 23.04.2012 [fcn BSTM-1437*]; 1 male, FLMNH UF 32412 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint- Martin, sta. 56, Chicot, windward side of Tintamarre Island, in unidentified verongid sponge [host fcn BSTM- 1418], coll. A. Anker, J.F. Maréchal, 23.04.2012 [fcn BSTM-1439*]; 2 males, FLMNH UF 32406 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 56, Chicot , windward side of Tintamarre Island, in unidentified verongid sponge [host fcn BSTM-1418], coll. A. Anker, J.F. Maréchal, 23.04.2012 [fcn BSTM-1430*] . Brazil: 2 males, 1 ov. female, 1 immature, MNRJ 23335 , Atol das Rocas, LT 703, Laguna Central , close to Piscina do Guarapirá, coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, A.A. Aguiar, 15.10.2000; 3 males, 2 ov. females, MNRJ 23336 , Atol das Rocas, LT 710, R11 , 3 ˚51'747S, 33˚49'497W, in unidentified sponge, 14 m, coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, A.A. Aguiar, 16.10.2000; major chela, lateral; c, major chela fingers, mesial; d, major chela dactylus, mesial; e, major cheliped, ischium to carpus lateral; f, minor cheliped, lateral; g, minor chela and carpus, mesial; h, second pereiopod, lateral; i, third pereiopod, lateral. Scale bars = 1 mm .

R10 , in Ircinia sp. , coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, A.A. Aguiar, 11.08.2000; 1 male , 1 ov. female (dissected), MNRJ 16644 , Atol das Rocas, Laguna, in Aiolochroia crassa , coll. G. Neves, 11.1999; 1 ov. female , UFC 474 , Ceará, Fortaleza , coll. “Barco SWJ”, 24.11.1974 .

Description. For description and illustrations see Coutière (1909) and Dardeau (1984); see also Ríos & Duffy (2007); illustrations of the Atol das Rocas material are provided in Figs 34–36 .

Size range. Males, 3.3–6.7 mm cl; females, 4.6–6.3 mm cl.

Colour in life. Semitransparent with pale olive tinge; major chela brown-orange distally; eggs drab greenish ( Fig. 37 ); specimens from Belize: translucent-whitish with brown-tinged distal palm and fingers of major chela, with pale green to drab olive ovaries and eggs (colour photograph in Ríos & Duffy 2007).

Type locality. Anclote , Florida .

Distribution. (excluding S. tanneri ) Western Atlantic: Florida; Gulf of Mexico; Caribbean Sea: Belize [Carrie Bow Cay], St. Martin; Brazil: Atol das Rocas, Ceará ( Chace 1972; Dardeau 1984; Ríos & Duffy 2007; present study); possibly also in the Bahamas ( Ríos & Duffy 2007) (see map in Fig. 51 ).

Ecology. Outer reef ridges, with abundance of sponges; known depth range 5–73 m ( Dardeau 1984; Ríos & Duffy 2007; present study); obligate symbiont of demosponges: Hymeniacidon amphilecta , Hyattella intestinalis , Aiolochroia crassa , Agelas dispar , Ircinia sp. ( Dardeau 1984; Rodríguez 1986; Ríos & Duffy 2007); records from the ten-ray star coral, Madracis decactis ( Dardeau 1984) , probably refer to smaller sponges growing at the base of coral colonies; typically in heterosexual pairs.

Remarks. Synalpheus herricki can be distinguished from all the other species of the genus present in the western Atlantic by the W-shaped ventral margins of the third and fourth pleura in males, and by the major chela dactylus ending in a distinctly ventrally directed tooth, separated from the rest of the dactylus by a more or less region, dorsal; b, same, lateral; c, third maxilliped, lateral; d, minor cheliped, lateral; e, minor chela, mesial; f, coxa and basis of minor cheliped, lateral; g, second pereiopod, lateral; h, third pereiopod, lateral; i, same, propodus and dactylus, lateral; j, abdomen, lateral; k, uropod, dorsal; l, telson, dorsal; m, same, distal half enlarged. Scale bars = 1 mm.

The material from Atol das Rocas and Ceará represents the first record of S. herricki from Brazil, although it must noted that Christoffersen (1979) reported several closely related species under the name “ S. brooksi ” from various Brazilian localities; some of them appear to be S. bousfieldi and S. herricki (see also Christoffersen 1998). In one of the Atol das Rocas specimens, the frontal region of the carapace is abnormal in lacking a rostrum while possessing well-developed orbital teeth ( Fig. 36 ; see also under remarks under S. ul below). The number of spiniform setae on the telson is variable from three to five, as is their position and the general shape of the telson ( Figs 35a, c, d , 36m ). In addition, some specimens have a triangular median process on the posterior margin of the sixth abdominal somite ( Fig. 35c ).

The taxonomic status of S. tanneri Coutière, 1909 , currently a junior synonym of S. herricki ( Dardeau 1984) needs further investigation. Ríos & Duffy (2007) briefly mentioned that S. tanneri may represent a valid species, but did not further comment on this issue. They did not include S. tanneri in the species key and also not listed in their tentative species list of the S. gambarelloides group (as Zuzalpheus Ríos & Duffy, 2007 ).

Figures

FIGURE 34. Synalpheus herricki Coutière, 1909: male from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 16644); a, frontal region, dorsal; b,

FIGURE 35. Synalpheus herricki Coutière, 1909: a, b, male from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 16644); c–e, different specimens from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 16644); a, telson and uropod, dorsal; b, abdomen, lateral; c, telson and uropod, dorsal; d, telson, dorsal; e, frontal margin of carapace, dorsal. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 36. Synalpheus herricki Coutière, 1909: female from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (OUMNH.ZC.2012-07-143); a, frontal

FIGURE 37. Synalpheus herricki Coutière, 1909: a, male from St. Martin (FLMNH UF 32412), dorsal view; b, ovigerous female from the same locality, damaged (FLMNH UF 32411), dorsal view. Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 51. Presently known geographic ranges of Synalpheus africanus Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. cf. africanus (eastern and western Atlantic); S. agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979; S. anasimus Chace, 1972; S. antillensis Coutière, 1909; S. apioceros Coutière, 1909; S. bocas Anker & Tóth, 2008; S. bousfieldi Chace, 1972; S. brooksi Coutière, 1909; S. carpenteri Macdonald & Duffy, 2006; S. chacei Duffy, 1998; S. congoensis Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. dardeaui (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. dominicensis Armstrong, 1949; S. elizabethae (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. filidigitus Armstrong, 1949; S. fritzmuelleri Coutière, 1909; S. goodei