Caprella penantis (Leach, 1814)

Cházaro-Olvera, Sergio, Winfield, Ignacio, Ortiz, Manuel & Álvarez, Fernando, 2002, Peracarid crustaceans from three inlets in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico: new records and range extensions, Zootaxa 123, pp. 1-16 : 5

Caprella penantis (Leach, 1814)

Material examined: CNCR­20393; number of specimens: 2; CV station; collection date: 01/08/98.

Type­locality: Devonshire coast, England.

Distribution: This species has been reported in British Islands, France, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, from Nova Scotia to Georgia, Gulf of Mexico ( Caine, 1983; McCain, 1968; Duffy, 1990), Brazil ( Mittman & Müeller, 1998), California, Hawaii, Japan, Australia and New Zealand ( McCain, 1968; Masakazu, 1999).

Range extension: Caprella penantis has previously only been reported from Texas and Florida in the Gulf of Mexico ( McCain, 1968; Caine, 1983). The record for this species at CV inlet extends its range within the Gulf to Veracruz State, Mexico.

Remarks: This species occurs in horny corals, lagoon­estuarine systems, sandy beaches, Sargasssum beds and epiphytic hydroids ( Masakazu, 1999). They feed by scraping on large algae which have filamentous or long thalli ( Takeuchi & Hirano, 1996).

The salinity and temperature measured at the collection site in this study were 19 to 27 %o and 28 to 29 °C, respectively.