Lebbeus lagunae ( Schmitt, 1921 )

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 89

Lebbeus lagunae ( Schmitt, 1921)

( Fig. 22B, Pl.1E)

Spirontocaris lagunae Schmitt, 1921: 57 , fig. 35, pl. 12, figs. 10–11.

Lebbeus lagunae . — Holthuis 1947: 9. — Word & Charwat 1976: 141. — Wicksten 1978a: 2, figs. 1, 4; 1990b: 592. — Wicksten & Méndez 1982: 117. — Carvacho & Olson 1984: 60. — Jensen 1995: 50. — Chace 1997: 51. — Kuris et al. 2007: 636.

Diagnosis. Rostrum reduced to spiniform tooth. Second segment of antennular peduncle with large spine, stylocerite reaching end of first segment. Carapace with 3 large teeth on dorsal margin, large supraorbital tooth. Pereopods 1–3 with epipods. Pereopods 3–5 stout, dactyls spinose, merus of each with spine. Pleura of abdominal somites 1–3 in female rounded, 4 pointed, 5 with acute point; in male, somites narrow, all bluntly to acutely pointed. Telson with 3 pairs dorsolateral spines. Females with more deeply inflated carapace, rounded abdominal pleura than males. Total length 20 mm.

Color in life. Camouflaged like algae: "kelp color", body light, legs darker, red, black on appendages ( Schmitt 1921); mottled with white, rose-red, dark rose-red, tan, brick red ( Wicksten 1978a), covered with large brown or red blotches (K. Lee, pers. comm.)

Habitat and depth. Rocky reefs, tide pools, kelp beds, intertidal zone to 55m.

Range. Dark Gulch, Mendocino County, California to south of Punta Banda , Baja California . Type locality Laguna Beach, California .

Remarks. Kuris et al. (2007: 651) called this a "southern" species, but it ranges into central California. Most observations of this shrimp were made during night dives.