Synalpheus goodei Coutière, 1909

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 46-47

Synalpheus goodei Coutière, 1909

( Figs 29 , 30 )

Synalpheus goodei Coutière 1909: 58 , fig. 33; Verrill 1922: 116, figs 5c, 6a, pl. 37, fig. 1, pl. 38, figs 1, 2, pl. 39, fig. 4, pl. 40, fig. 2; Schmitt 1924b: 68; Gurney 1949: 293-295, figs 1–9; Chace 1972: 93; Heck 1977: 338; Felder & Chaney 1979: 25; Bourdon & Markham 1980: 222; Westinga & Hoetjes 1981: 142; Dardeau 1984: 40; Abele & Kim 1986: 202, 224–225, figs a–c; Rodríguez 1986: 191, fig. 45; Duffy 1992: 131; Martínez-Iglesias et al. 1996: 35; Hultgren et al. 2010: 230, pl. 3D.

Zuzalpheus goodei — Ríos & Duffy 2007: 33 , pl. 3.

Material examined. Panama: 2 ov. females, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-053, Bocas del Toro , Isla Bastimentos, Crawl Cay (Cayo Coral), in Lissodendoryx colombiensis , 1–3 m, coll. A. Anker, 30.10.2005 [fcn 05-086*]; 1 male, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-054, same collection data [fcn 05-089A]; 1 ov. female, 2 males (?), MNHN-IU-2010-4140 , Isla Grande, between main village and Playa de la Punta, coral rocks, in cryptic sponge, 1–1.5 m, coll. A. Anker, 04.09.2006 [fcn 06-440*, 06-446*]; 1 ov. female, MNHN-IU-2010-4141, same collection data [fcn 06-459*]; 1 female, RMNH D54867 , Isla Grande, off Playa de la Punta, coral rocks, in cryptic sponges, 1–3 m, coll. A. Anker, J.A. Vera Caripe, J. Luque, 15.09.2007 [fcn 07-257*]; 1 male, RMNH D54868, Bocas del Toro , Isla Bastimentos, off Salt Creek, in cryptic sponges in rubble, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, 31.03.2008 [fcn 08-009*]; 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-052, Bocas del Toro , Isla Bastimentos, off Salt Creek, in cryptic sponges in rubble, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, 31.03.2008 [fcn 08-014]; 1 ov. female, 1 male, USNM 1187898 , Bocas del Toro, Cayo Solarte , Hospital Point, in Calyx podatypa , 1–3 m, coll. K. Hultgren, 10.12.2007 [fcn P07-3202] . Honduras: 1 male, OUMNH. ZC.2007-20-196, Utila, in front of Coral View Hotel , under rocks, 0.5–1 m, coll. A Anker, 05.08.2007 . Belize: 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2009-01-116, Carrie Bow Cay , Twin Cays, 1649.424’N 8806.346’W, in unidentified yellow sponge, intertidal, coll. S. De Grave et al., 20.02.2009 [CBC-045] .

Material tentatively identified as Synalpheus goodei (?): Panama: 1 female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-123, Bocas del Toro, Isla Bastimentos, off Salt Creek , in cryptic sponge in coral rocks, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, 31.03.2008 [fcn 08-013*]. Brazil: 1 ov. female, MZUSP 25329 , REVIZEE Comissão Central 2, sta. VV15, off Espírito Santo, 21°10’00”S 40°25’98”W, ~ 25.4 m, 26.02.1996 ; 1 male, MZUSP 25352 , REVIZEE Comissão Central 2, sta. Astro Garoupa 44C, 20°51’24”S 33°38’34”W, ~ 65 m, 10.11.1997 .

Description. For description and illustrations see Coutière (1909) and Dardeau (1984); see also Ríos & Duffy (2007); Brazilian deep-water material is illustrated in Fig. 30 .

Size range. Males, 4.2–5.1 mm cl; females, 4.9–5.8 mm cl; females tentatively identified as S. goodei (?) at 4.0 mm cl ( Panama) and 3.2 mm cl ( Brazil).

Colour in life. Semitransparent, whitish, major chela fingers grey brownish, fingertips bright orange; ovaries or freshly laid eggs dull green ( Fig. 29 ) to “pinkish brown” (Hultgren et al. 2010); see also photographs in Ríos & Duffy (2007) and Hultgren et al. (2010).

Type locality. Bermuda .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: Bermuda; Florida [Tampa Bay]; Gulf of Mexico; Caribbean Sea: Belize [Carrie Bow Cay], Cuba [Batabanó Gulf], Honduras [Utila], Panama [Bocas del Toro, Colón, Isla Grande], Curaçao, Dominica, Tobago ( Coutière 1909; Chace 1972; Dardeau 1984; Ríos & Duffy 2007; Hultgren et al. 2010; present study); possibly also Brazil: seamounts off Espírito Santo (present study, see below; see also map in Fig. 51 ).

Ecology. Shallow reef environments, e.g., sand flats with abundant rubble, sponges, mangrove roots etc., depth range 1–20 m; obligate symbiont of sponges, for example Calyx podatypa and Xestospongia wiedenmayeri in Belize, Xestospongia proxima and Spheciospongia vesparium in Curaçao, and Calyx podatypa and Lissodendoryx colombiensis in Bocas del Toro, Panama ( Westinga & Hoetjes 1981; Ríos & Duffy 2007; Hultgren et al. 2010; present study); typically in heterosexual pairs.

Remarks. Synalpheus goodei is closely related to S. williamsi Ríos & Duffy, 1999 , from which it differs by the number of teeth on the lateral margin of the uropodal exopod (6–10 in S. goodei , 3–6 in S. williamsi ); the absence of a protuberance on the lateral side of the major chela pollex (present in S. williamsi ); and the presence a tuft of setae posterior to the anus ( Ríos & Duffy 1999, 2007).

tentatively identified as S. goodei (OUMNH.ZC.2012-07-123), because it differs from the typical S. goodei in having only five teeth on the uropodal exopod and no post-anal setal tuft (in fact it has no setae at all in the anal area). At the same time, this female also lacks a lateral protuberance on the major chela pollex and therefore cannot be S. williamsi , which has such a protuberance ( Ríos & Duffy 2007). The true identity of this specimen may need to be confirmed genetically.

Similarly, the identity of two specimens here tentatively assigned to S. goodei , a young male and an ovigerous female collected on seamounts off central-eastern Brazil (MZUSP 25352, 25329), needs verification, preferably by genetics. The female carries very large eggs, as do all the Caribbean females of S. goodei ( Fig. 29 ). The uropodal exopod has seven (female) or five and six (male) teeth on the distolateral margin, which is the lowest number reported in Caribbean S. goodei . Other characters of S. goodei are the typical frontal margin ( Fig. 30a ); the major chela palm lacking a distomesial protuberance; the distal tooth of the major chela palm directed slightly downwards ( Fig. 30b ) and the fingertips of the minor chela inconspicuously bidentate ( Fig. 30c ). However, and most importantly, the scaphocerite has no trace of a blade in both specimens ( Fig. 30a ), thus contrasting with the Caribbean material ( Coutière 1909; Ríos & Duffy 2007). If confirmed to be conspecific with S. goodei by genetics, these specimens would represent the first record of this species for Brazilian offshore waters.

Figures

FIGURE 29. Synalpheus goodei Coutière, 1909: a–d, ovigerous female from Bocas del Toro, Panama (OUMNH.ZC.2012-07- 052); e, f, ovigerous female from Isla Grande, Panama (MNHN-IU-2010-4140), in dorsal view (e) and with host sponge (f); g, h, male of S. goodei (?) from Bocas del Toro, Panama (RMNH D54868). Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 30. Synalpheus goodei Coutière, 1909 (?): ovigerous female from Espírito Santo, Brazil (MZUSP 25352): a, frontal region, dorsal; b, major chela, mesial; c, minor cheliped, mesial. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 51. Presently known geographic ranges of Synalpheus africanus Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. cf. africanus (eastern and western Atlantic); S. agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979; S. anasimus Chace, 1972; S. antillensis Coutière, 1909; S. apioceros Coutière, 1909; S. bocas Anker & Tóth, 2008; S. bousfieldi Chace, 1972; S. brooksi Coutière, 1909; S. carpenteri Macdonald & Duffy, 2006; S. chacei Duffy, 1998; S. congoensis Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. dardeaui (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. dominicensis Armstrong, 1949; S. elizabethae (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. filidigitus Armstrong, 1949; S. fritzmuelleri Coutière, 1909; S. goodei