Pachycheles panamensis Faxon, 1893

Ferreira, Luciane Augusto De Azevedo & Anker, Arthur, 2021, An annotated and illustrated checklist of the porcelain crabs of Panama (Decapoda: Anomura), Zootaxa 5045 (1), pp. 1-154 : 51

Pachycheles panamensis Faxon, 1893

( Fig. 25 )

Pachycheles panamensis Faxon 1893: 175 ; Faxon 1895: 71, pl. 15, figs. 2, 2a; Haig 1960: 155, pl. 33, fig. 1; Haig 1962: 182; Gore & Abele 1976: 20; Gore 1982: 9; Lazarus-Agudelo & Cantera-Kintz 2007: 229; García-Madrigal & Andréu-Sánchez 2009: 29, fig. 2E.

Material examined. Panama [Pacific]: 2 ov. females, cl 5.5, cw 6.0 and cl 5.0, cw 5.2 ( MZUSP 33467 ), Río Mar , rocky intertidal, under rocks and in rock crevices, leg. A. Anker, J.F. Lazarus-Agudelo & T. Kaji, 20.04.2015 ; 1 male, cl 7.5, cw 8.3, 1 ov. female, cl 8.6, cw 9.8 ( MZUSP 33448 ), same collection data as for previous specimens .

Previous records from Panama. Haig (1960); Gore & Abele (1976); Gore (1982).

Distribution. East Pacific: Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama (Isla Verde inside Golfo de Montijo, Río Mar, Isla Venao, vicinity of Ciudad de Panamá) and Ecuador ( Haig 1960; Gore 1982; present study).

Ecology. Intertidal and shallow subtidal, known depth range: 0–8 m; on rocky shores, under rocks, in rock crevices and interstices of corals ( Haig 1960; Gore 1982; present study).

Remarks. Pachycheles panamensis , originally described from an unknown locality on the Pacific coast of Panama ( Faxon 1893), is one of the most common species of the genus on the rocky shores of the Pacific coast of Central and northern South America. The species is easy to recognise with the P1 chelae and carpus bearing very thick stiff setae; the space between these setae is often filled by particles of sand, debris and small epifaunal organisms ( Fig. 25 ).

Figures

FIGURE 25. Pachycheles panamensis Faxon, 1893: A, B, male (cl 7.5 mm, cw 8.3 mm) from Río Mar, Panama (MZUSP 33448), dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views [photographs by AA].