Teleophrys pococki Rathbun, 1924

In, First Published, 2022, Brachyuran crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the remote oceanic Archipelago Trindade and Martin Vaz, South Atlantic Ocean, Zootaxa 5146, pp. 1-129 : 47-49

Teleophrys pococki Rathbun, 1924

( Figs. 24A–G , 25A )

Teleophrys pococki Rathbun, 1924: 5 [Type locality: Maceió , Alagoas, Brazil, in coral reef].

Trindade and Martin Vaz specimens. 2 ovigerous females, 1 juvenile female ( MZUSP 33834 ), Trindade Island , Parcel da Tartarugas , 20°31’1.4”S, 29°18’00.6”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 01.vii.2012, tide pool, on calcareous algae. 1 male ( MZUSP 39853 ), 1 male ( MZUSP 39922 ), ibidem, 20°31’10.4”S, 29°17’58.4”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 19.vi.2016, tide pool. 1 ovigerous female ( MZUSP 40676 ), ibidem, Praia do Noroeste , 20°29’46.4”S, 29°20’35.4”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 30.vii.2018, 9 m. 1 male ( MZUSP 40677 ), ibidem, 28.xi.2017, 9.4 m. 1 male ( MZUSP 40582 ), ibidem, 6.viii.2018, 9.5 m. 1 ovigerous female ( MZUSP 40678 ), ibidem, 30.vii.2018, 9.0 m. 1juvenile ( MZUSP 40194 ), ibidem, 11.ii.2019, 3.5 m, on calcareous algae. 1 ovigerous female ( MZUSP 40614 ), 1 ovigerous female ( MZUSP 40723 ), ibidem, Praia do Galo , 20°29’22.22”S, 29°20’2.87”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 14.ii.2019, tide pool, 2.5 m. 1 male ( MZUSP 39854 ), ibidem, Ponta da Calheta , 20°30’18.72”S, 29°18’31.67”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 11.xi.2014, 16 m. 1 juvenile female ( MZUSP 39830 ), ibidem, 20°30’29.5”S, 29°18’37.0”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 21.vi.2016, 12.5 m. 1 juvenile, 1 female ( MZUSP 40599 ), ibidem, 20°30’20.9”S, 29°18’43.7”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 18.vi.2012, 12.0 m. 1 juvenile male ( MZUSP 40699 ), ibidem, Ponta da Cachoeira , 20°30’31.18”S, 29°20’37.59”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 21.vii.2015, 19 m. 1 juvenile male ( MZUSP 40679 ), ibidem, Enseada da Cachoeira , Farrilhões, 20°30’29.8”S, 29°19’52.0”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 21.xi.2017, 11.3 m. 1 male ( MZUSP 40758 ), 1 female ( MZUSP 40594 ), 1 ovigerous female ( MZUSP 40678 ), ibidem, Enseada dos Portugueses, Farol, 20°29’52.3”S, 29°19’15.6”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 23.x.2014, 12.5 m. 1 male ( MZUSP 40675 ), 1 ovigerous female, 1 juvenile female ( MZUSP 40617 ), ibidem, Enseada das Orelhas, 20°29’40.2”S, 29°20’32.9”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 6.xii.2017, 8.4 m. 1 juvenile male ( MZUSP 40761 ), ibidem, 20°29’32.3”S, 29°20’32.6”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 22.vi.2012, 14.9 m. 1 juvenile male ( MZUSP 39831 ), ibidem, Ilha da Racha , 20°30’26.5”S, 29°20’48.0”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 1.vii.2016, 21.4 m. 1 male, 2 ovigerous females, 3 juveniles ( MZUSP 41129 ), ibidem, Ponta do Monumento , 20°30’10.3”S, 29°20’36.1”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 13.vii. 2012, 8.1 m. 1 female ( MZUSP 40763 ), ibidem, Enseada dos Portugueses, R /V “Marion Dufresne”, TAAF MD55/ Brésil Expedition, M. Tavares coll., 22.v.1987, vacuum suction sampler, 10 m. 4 males, 1 juvenile female ( MZUSP 41130 ), 2 juveniles ( MZUSP 40197 ), Martin Vaz Archipelago, 20°30’45.7”S, 29°18’21.9”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 23.vii.2013, washed algae, 13 m. 1 male, 1 ovigerous females, 4 juveniles ( MZUSP 39887 ), ibidem, 20°28’42S, 28°51’24.56”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 21.vi.2015, 21.4 m. 1 male, 1 juvenile ( MZUSP 40584 ), ibidem, 20°28’38.61”S, 28°51’14.66”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 25.i.2019, 13.1 m. 1 male ( MZUSP 41582 ), ibidem, Ponta Norte, Crista do Galo, 20°29’14.84”S, 29°20’13.95”W, J.B. Mendonça coll., 21.v.2014, 15 m, associated with the stony coral Mussismilia .

Size of largest male: cl 9.1 mm, cw 9.9 mm; largest female: cl 4.5 mm, cw 4.6 mm.

Comparative material examined. Teleophrys ornatus : Cuba: 1 juvenile female ( USNM 16052 ), Havana, R/V “ Albatross ”, stn 2365, 30.i.1885, 44 m . Teleophrys pococki : Curaçao: 1 male ( USNM 56374 ), Caracas Bay , on sponge, 3.v.1920 , C. J. van der Horst coll. [M.J. Rathbun det.]. Grenada: 1 male, 1 juvenile female ( MZUSP 41178 ), Grand Anse Bay , 12°1’45.68”N, 61°46’18.67”W, L.R.L. Simone et al. coll., 8.x.2012, 10 m . Brazil: Pernambuco : 2 males, 2 females ( MZUSP 6240 ), Jaboatão, Recife de Candeias , M. Christoffersen coll., 2.xi.1982 . São Paulo: 1 ovigerous female ( MZUSP 16706 ), Vitória Island, Ilhote dos Pescadores , 23°44’13”S, 45°01’21”W, Cobo, V.J. and Alves, D. coll., v.2004 .

Distribution. Bahamas ( Garth 1978), Gulf of Mexico ( Felder et al. 2009), Colombia ( Cruz Castaño & Campos 2003; Monroy López & Solano 2005), Curaçao, Venezuela ( Vera-Caripe et al. 2017) and Brazil (Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Bahia, São Paulo) ( Gouvêa 1986; Melo 1998; Nogueira et al. 2015). Brazilian oceanic islands: Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Rocas Atoll ( Fausto-Filho 1974; Alves et al. 2008; Bouth et al. 2011) and Trindade and Martin Vaz Archipelago (present study).

Ecological notes. Relatively little is known about the biology and ecology of Teleophrys pococki . This species has been reported associating with many different substrata, including coral reef and dead coral ( Rathbun 1924a; Vera-Caripe et al. 2017), Mussismilia corals (Bahia, Nogueira et al. 2015; Trindade Island, see under material examined), under stones ( Garth, 1978), and more commonly associating with macroalgae such as Centroceras sp. , Ceramium sp. , and Chaetomorpha sp. ( Gouvêa, 1986; Monroy López & Solano, 2005). In Trindade, T. pococki decorates itself by attaching green and red algae to the carapace and legs whose lamelliform lobes on P2–P5 facilitate fouling accumulation ( Fig. 24B, F, G ). The association with the sea urchin Tripneustes ventricosus (Lamarck) ( Monroy López & Solano 2005; Vera-Caripe et al. 2017) and Echinometra lucunter (Linnaeus) ( Hayes et al. 2016) is probably occasional. Teleophrys pococki and Mithrax forceps are the commonest spider crab species in Trindade and Martin Vaz, where males, ovigerous females and juveniles have been found together in macro- and calcareous algae in tide pools and occasionally hard corals down to 22 m. It has been reported as prey for Octopus insularis juveniles in the Rocas Atoll ( Bouth et al. 2011).

Remarks. Two species of Teleophrys have been recorded from the Brazilian coast, T. pococki and T. ornatus (type locality: Mayaguez Harbor, Puerto Rico). The specimens from Trindade and Martin Vaz are confidently referred to T. pococki on the account of the carapace approximately as broad or broader than long, and P2–P5 cristate dorsally only ( Fig. 24A, C–E ) (vs carapace distinctly longer than broad and P2–P5 cristate dorsally and ventrally in T. ornatus ) ( Fig. 25B ).

Developing specimens tend to have more granular carapace and spiniform anterolateral teeth ( Fig. 24E , 25A ), which become smaller and develop into rounded, low tubercles in grown specimens ( Fig. 24A, C ). Mature females have translucid pleonal somites 4–6 ( Fig. 24C ).

Upon examination, the ovigerous female MZUSP 16706 from the northeastern coast of São Paulo previously identified as T. ornatus ( Alves et al. 2006; Alves et al. 2012b) proved to belong to T. pococki .

Materials of T. ornatus previously recorded from Brazil (not available to us) were obtained from the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (1 juvenile male dredged between 13–36 m reported by Miers, 1886: 89, pl. 10, figs 3a, b, as Mithrax sp. See Rathbun 1925; 1933) ( Fig. 25B, C ), and from Salvador (Bahia) ( Gouvêa, 1986). However, Gouvêa’s (1986) illustrations of the lamelliform lobes on P2 suggest that all his specimens actually belong to T. pococki . Pocock’s (1890: 508) Mithrax (Teleophrys) cristulipes from Fernando de Noronha actually refers to T. pococki (see Rathbun 1925).

The date of publication of Teleophrys pococki is 1924, not 1892 as in Ng et al. (2008).

Figures

FIGURE 24. A–G, Teleophrys pococki Rathbun, 1924. A, Adult male (MZUSP 39583), cl 9.2 mm, cw 10 mm. B, Ovigerous female (MZUSP 40614), cl 7.8 mm, cw 8 mm. C, D, Ovigerous female (MZUSP 39687), cl 6.1 mm, cw 6.1 mm. E, Juvenile male (MZUSP 40699), cl 4.1 mm, cw 4 mm. Note the more granular carapace and spiniform anterolateral teeth. F, G, Juvenile

FIGURE 25. A, Teleophrys pococki Rathbun, 1924, male juvenile (MZUSP 40599), cl 4 mm, cw 3.9 mm. Dorsal aspect of the carapace, outline. Note granular carapace and spiniform anterolateral teeth. B, C, Teleophrys ornatus Rathbun, 1901, juvenile male from the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago dredged between 13 m and 36 m (after Miers 1886: 89, pl. 10, figs 3a, b, as Mithrax sp.). Note legs cristate on upper and lower surfaces. Habitus, dorsal view (B), right cheliped, lateral view (C). Scale: A, 1 mm.