Achelous sebae (H. Milne Edwards, 1834 )

Parasram, Nadeshinie, Santana, William & Vallès, Henri, 2023, Checklist of the shallow-water marine Brachyura (Crustacea: Decapoda) of Barbados, West Indies, Zootaxa 5314 (1), pp. 1-62 : 33

Achelous sebae (H. Milne Edwards, 1834)

( Fig. 16B )

Lupea sebae H. Milne Edwards, 1834: 455 [type-locality: Brazil, type in MNHN].

Neptunus sebae A. Milne-Edwards, 1861: 329 , pl. 28, figs. 2; A. Milne-Edwards 1879: 217.

Lupa biocellata Gundlach & Torralbas, 1900: 58 , fig. 78.

Portunus (Achelous) sebae . — Rathbun, 1901: 46; 1920: 16; 1930: 79, pls. 35, 35; 1936: 383; Ng et al. 2008: 151.

Achelous sebae . — Smith, 1869: 34; Verrill 1908: 380, fig. 27; Mantelatto et al. 2018: 193, fig. 1; Poupin 2018: 205, fig. 228; Koch et al. 2022: 13, fig. 5.

Distribution. Western Atlantic: St. Thomas, St. Martin, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Barbados, Isla de Blanquilla, Isla de Margarita, Tortuga, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Aruba ( Poupin 2018; present study).

Material examined. Barbados, Batts Rock , St. Michael, subtidal, 13°08’04.81”N, 59°38’12.30”W, 1 ♀ (juv.) CW: 16.1 mm ( BLSZ 027 ) . Port St. Charles, St. Peter , subtidal, 13°15’51.81”N, 59°38’36.34”W, 1 ♀ CW: 56.6 mm ( BLSZ 245 ) .

Remarks. This is the first record of Achelous sebae for Barbados. Caught in crab traps placed on sandy bottoms (~ 4 m deep) on the west coast of Barbados. Achelous sebae can be identified by the presence of two ocelli on the mesobranchial surface of the carapace, which fade slightly in preserved specimens; frontal margin with six triangular shaped teeth, median pair larger than submedian pair, lateral pair with spine at the tip; anterolateral teeth and lateral spine with spinules on the anterior margin; coxa of swimming leg with curved spine, which is directed upwards and outwards; ischium, merus and carpus of swimming leg with row of small spines on the anterior margin; a spine at the postero-distal angle of merus, and two smaller spines on the distal margin next to the articulation with the carpus (modified from Rathbun 1930).

Figures

FIGURE 16. Superfamily Portunoidea Rafinesque, 1815, dorsal habitus: A, Achelous anceps (de Saussure, 1857), male, cw 30.5 mm (BLSZ 271); B, Achelous sebae (H. Milne Edwards, 1834), female, cw 56.6 mm (BLSZ 245); C, Achelous ventralis (A. Milne-Edwards, 1879), male, cw 29.1 mm (BLSZ 185); D, Callinectes marginatus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1861), female, cw 81.8 mm (BLSZ 057); E, juvenile specimen of Callinectes marginatus, cw 20.0 mm (BLSZ 230). Scale bars: 20 mm.