Synalpheus hemphilli Coutière, 1908

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 48-52

Synalpheus hemphilli Coutière, 1908

( Figs 31–33 )

Synalpheus Hemphilli oxyceros Coutière 1908: 711 .

Synalpheus hemphilli Coutière 1909: 38 , fig. 20; Verrill 1922: 94, pl. 33, fig. 3–3a, pl. 39, fig. 2a, b, pl. 40, fig. 1–1e; Schmitt 1924b: 66; Hazlett 1962: 82; Rouse 1970: 138; Knowlton 1970: 382; Chace 1972: 93; Christoffersen 1979: 343; Rodríguez 1980: 155; Abele & Kim 1986: 203, 226–227, figs d, e; Duffy 1992: 131; Christoffersen 1998: 363; Martínez- Iglesias et al. 1996: 35; Hernández Aguilera et al. 1996: 37; McClure 2005: 176, fig. 39; Bezerra & Coelho 2006: 701; Macdonald et al. 2006: 170.

Synalpheus hemphilli longicornis Coutière 1909: 39 , fig. 21.

Synalpheus hemphilli hemphilli — Chace 1956: 147.

Material examined. Panama: 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-116, Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, Punta Mono , tube sponges, Haliclona sp. , 3–4 m, coll. J.A. Vera Caripe, 15.11.2006 [fcn 06-579*]; 1 ov. female, MNHN-IU- 2010-4142, same collection data [fcn 06-580*] ; 1 male, MNHN-IU-2010-4143, same collection data [fcn 06-583] ; 1 male, RMNH D54865 , same collection data [fcn 06-584*] ; 1 male, RMNH D54864, Bocas del Toro, Crawl Cay ( Cayo Coral ), tube sponges, Haliclona sp. , 1–3 m, coll. A. Anker, 31.03.2007 [fcn 07-182A] ; 1 female, RMNH D54866 , same collection data [07-183A*] . USA: 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-080, Florida Keys, Little off western Florida, north of Florida Keys , 82 40.158' W, 25 14.716' N, otter trawl, ~ 38 m, spongy bottom, in tube sponges, coll. A. Anker, S. Mcpherson, A. Bemis et al. ( R / V Bellows ), 09.06.2009 [fcn Keys-288*] ; 1 female, FLMNH UF 19640 , same collection data [fcn Keys-287*] ; 1 female, FLMNH UF 19647 , same collection data, specimen infested with large bopyrid isopod (see Fig. 32c) [fcn Keys-295*] .

Description. For description and illustrations see Coutière (1909) and Verrill (1922).

Size range. Males, 4.4–6.4 mm cl; females, 5.6–9.4 mm cl.

Colour in life. Background semitransparent with bluish-greenish tinge; body and walking legs speckled with small red chromatophores, pinkish when contracted, more intense red when expanded; major and minor chelae greenish blue, changing to bright orange-yellow towards the fingers, fingertips amber-orange; ovaries and freshly laid eggs bright ultramarine blue ( Figs 31–33 ).

Type locality. Off western Florida .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: North Carolina to Florida; Bermuda; Gulf of Mexico; Caribbean Sea: Curaçao, Bonaire, Panama [Bocas del Toro], Cuba [Batabanó Gulf], Venezuela; Brazil: Ceará, Bahia ( Coutière 1909; Verrill 1922; Christoffersen 1979, 1998; Rodríguez 1980; Bezerra & Coelho 2006; present study; see map in Fig. 51 ).

Ecology. Shallow subtidal reefs and nearby areas, most common on lagoon-type sand flats with abundant seagrass and tube sponges; depth range 1–51 m ( Christoffersen 1979); typically associated with tube sponges Callyspongia vaginalis , Haliclona variabilis and Haliclona sp. ( Chace 1956; Hazlett 1962; Knowlton 1970; Bezerra & Coelho 2006; present study; see also Figs 30b , 32); usually in heterosexual pairs. The finding of S. hemphilli in Lissodendoryx cf. colombiensis (Macdonald et al. 2006) , a rather unusual sponge host for this species, requires confirmation.

Remarks. Synalpheus hemphilli is easy to distinguish from the other western Atlantic species by the very characteristic shape of the dactylus of the third to fifth pereiopods ( Coutière 1909: Figs 20, 21) and by the diagnostic colour pattern, including the bright green-ultramarine colour of ovaries or fresh eggs in females ( Figs 31–33 ).

The status of S. hemphilli longicornis was reviewed by Verrill (1922), who did not consider this variety as valid and placed it in the synonymy of S. hemphilli . This synonymy was accepted by Chace (1972), who did not list S. h. longicornis in his report, and by Christoffersen (1979), who listed it as a synonym of S. hemphilli . A molecular study of S. hemphilli from throughout its range is desirable to confirm its current status as a single, morphologically slightly variable species.

The date and indeed the paper in which Coutière described S. hemphilli has been variously quoted as 1908 or 1909 in previous literature. De Grave and Fransen (2011) attributed the name to Coutière (1909), as did Christoffersen (1979). In contrast, Chace (1972) referred the name to Coutière (1908), which consists of a brief note presented at the weekly meeting of the Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, on Monday 30 th March 1908. The “Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris” were published weekly on the Sunday following the meeting, the publication date thus becoming 4 th April 1908. Coutière’s much larger work on the American species of Synalpheus ( Coutière, 1909) was published on 30 th January 1909. A formal illustrated description of S. hemphilli appeared in Coutière (1909: p. 38), including the designation of types. However, Coutière (1908: p. 771) stated that “Le S. Hemphilli oxyceros américain diffère du S. Nilandensis oxyceros des Maldives à peu près uniquement par l’absence des épines mérales” and in doing so made the name available from this date. Under Article 46.1 of the ICZN both species-group names, S. hemphilli Coutière, 1908 and S. oxyceros Coutière, 1908 , were simultaneously established, therefore both being objective synonyms of each other. The species-group name S. oxyceros is however unavailable as this is a junior primary homonym of Synalpheus nilandensis var. oxyceros Coutière, 1905 , which according to Art. 45.6.4.1 is to be treated as a subspecies. Synalpheus hemphilli Coutière, 1908 remains however available and has been used in at least 16 publications since 1908.

Figures

FIGURE 30. Synalpheus goodei Coutière, 1909 (?): ovigerous female from Espírito Santo, Brazil (MZUSP 25352): a, frontal region, dorsal; b, major chela, mesial; c, minor cheliped, mesial. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 31. Synalpheus hemphilli Coutière, 1908: a, b, male from Bocas del Toro, Panama (RMNH D54864), in dorsal view (a) and in the spongocoel of Haliclona sp. (b). Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 33. Synalpheus hemphilli Coutière, 1908: a, b, female in situ in Bonaire, associated with Callyspongia vaginalis (specimen not collected). Photographs by E. Muller.

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