Porcellana sayana ( Leach, 1820 )

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 : 132-136

Porcellana sayana ( Leach, 1820)

( Figs. 83–85 , 91C )

Pisidia sayana Leach 1820: 54 .

Porcellana sayana .— White 1847: 64; Hay & Shore 1918: 403, pl. 29, fig. 7; Schmitt 1935: 189, fig. 49; Holthuis 1959: 161; Haig 1962: 186; Haig 1966: 354; Wiliams 1984: 245, fig. 180; Rodríguez et al. 2005: 569; Lira et al. 2012: 27, fig. 3F; Humann et al. 2013: 149, 3 unnumbered colour photographs; Poupin & Lemaitre 2014: 22, fig. 4G; Ferreira & Melo 2016: 191 , fig. 3C; Diez & Lira 2017: 447 ; Poupin 2018: 151, fig. 150; Mendonça et al. 2019: 308 , fig. 3C; Mantelatto et al. 2021: 572 , fig. 2I.

Porcellana frontalis Heller 1862: 523 .

Porcellana stimpsoni A. Milne-Edwards 1880: 35 .

Porcellana robertsoni Henderson 1888: 111 , pl. 11, fig. 6.

Material examined. Panama [Caribbean]: 1 male, cl 7.7, cw 7.0 ( MZUSP 33471 ), Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, Boca del Drago , shallow flat with seagrass and coral rubble and coral rocks, depth 0.5–2 m, associated with Petrochirus diogenes , leg. A. Anker, 01.05.2015. Extra-limital material . USA [Florida]: 3 specimens, cl cw indet. ( FLMNH UF 19582–19584 ), Florida Bay north of Florida Keys , R / V Bellows sta. 7, 81°53.162’W, 24°47.342’N, otter trawl over spongy bottom, 16 m, associated with hermit crab shell, leg. A. Anker et al., 07.06.2009 (fcn KEYS-143, KEYS- 144, KEYS-145) .

Previous records from Panama. Gore (1982).

Distribution. West Atlantic: USA (Gulf of Mexico to North Carolina), Mexico, Belize, Panama (Bocas del Toro, Bahía de Caledonia), Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, N and E Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, Brazil and Uruguay (Holthuis 1959; Haig 1966; Gore 1982; Williams 1984; Ferreira & Melo 2016; Poupin 2018; Mantelatto et al. 2021).

Ecology. Intertidal and (more common) subtidal, known depth range: 0–92 m; in a variety of habitats and on a variety of bottom types, typically on coral or rocky reefs, but also on rocky-sandy flats, near seagrass beds and mangroves; typically associated with larger hermit crabs, especially Petrochirus diogenes (Linnaeus) , Dardanus venosus (H. Milne Edwards) and D. fucosus Biffar & Provenzano , rarely Paguristes grayi Benedict and Pagurus pollicaris Say ; at least in the case of D. fucosus , usually found in a symbiotic community that also includes the sea anemone, Calliactis tricolor (Lesueur) ; more incidentally reported from the giant conch, Aliger gigas (Linnaeus) , clinging to the operculum or close to it, from the holothurian Astichopus multifidus (Sluiter) , or associated with larger brachyuran crabs, such as Stenocionops furcatus (Olivier) and Dromia erythropus (Edwards in Catesby); may also be found free-living on sandy, muddy and shell bottoms or in crevices of oyster clusters (Haig 1966; Williams 1984; López-Victoria et al. 2004; Lira et al. 2012; Ferreira & Melo 2016; Mantelatto et al. 2021 and references therein).

Remarks. Porcellana sayana is one of the most colourful and “charismatic” western Atlantic porcelain crabs, well known to divers and underwater photographers (e.g. Humann et al. 2013). Haig (1966) already noted a remarkable variation in the colour pattern of the species, with most individuals covered by white or lavender-coloured rounded spots of various sizes, some with dark red circle; others have longitudinal bands or combine spots and bands ( Williams 1984; Lira et al. 2012; Humann et al. 2013; Mendonça et al. 2019; Mantelatto et al. 2021). The chromatic variation of P. sayana is exemplified by our single Panamanian specimen ( Fig. 83 ) and several specimens from Florida ( Figs. 85 , 91C ). The Panamanian specimen, which seems to be a relatively young male, was found in association with P. diogenes , one of the most common hosts of this porcelain crab ( Fig. 84 ).

Genus Ulloaia Glassell, 1938

Figures

FIGURE 83. Porcellana sayana (Leach, 1820): A–C, male (cl 7.7 mm, cw 7.0 mm) from Bocas del Toro, Panama (MZUSP 33471), dorsal (A), ventral (B) and frontal (C) views [photographs by AA].

FIGURE 84. Porcellana sayana (Leach, 1820): A, B, male (cl 7.7 mm, cw 7.0 mm) from Bocas del Toro, Panama (MZUSP 33471), associated with the hermit crab Petrochirus diogenes (Linnaeus) [photographs by AA].

FIGURE 85. Porcellana sayana (Leach, 1820):A, extra-limital specimen, male (cl cw indet.) from Florida Bay, USA (FLMNH UF 19582), dorsal view [photograph by AA]; B, extra-limital specimen, male (cl cw indet.) from Florida, USA (FLMNH UF 28581), dorsal view; C, extra-limital specimen, female (cl cw indet.) from Florida, USA (FLMNH UF 28371), dorsal view [photographs in B and C courtesy of Gustav Paulay].

FIGURE 91. Some westernAtlantic Porcellanidae (species reported from Panama) photographed in situ:A, Petrolisthes galathinus (Bosc, 1802) [sensu lato], Tayrona, Colombia; B, C, Porcellana sayana (Leach, 1820), southern Florida, USA [photographs courtesy of Juan-Felipe Lazarus-Agudelo (A) and Linda Ianniello (B, C)].