Synalpheus, Paulsoni Senegambiensis Coutiere, 1908

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 72-76

Synalpheus ul ( Ríos & Duffy, 2007)

( Figs 47–49 )

Zuzalpheus ul Ríos & Duffy 2007: 63 , figs 27–30, pl. 3.

Synalpheus ul — Macdonald et al. 2009: 50; Hultgren et al. 2010: 234, 251, fig. 9A–F, pl. 6A–D; Almeida et al. 2012: 19 , figs 6–8.

Synalpheus cf. pandionis — Almeida et al. 2007: 15 , figs 3, 4 (not S. pandionis Coutière 1909 , see Almeida et al. 2012).

Synalpheus yano — Macdonald et al. 2009: 51, pl. 6A, B (not S. yano ( Ríos & Duffy, 2007) , see Hultgren & Duffy 2010: p. 3).

Material examined. Panama: 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC . 2012-07-083, Bocas del Toro, Isla Colón, Boca del Drago , cryptic sponge in coral rocks, 0.5–1 m, coll. A. Anker, 20.10.2005 [fcn 05-058]; 1 male, 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC . 2012-07-084, same collection data [fcn 05-064]; 1 male, MNHN-IU-2010-4157, Bocas del Toro , Isla San Cristóbal, Punta Coco , cryptic sponges in coral rubble, 1–1.5 m, coll. A. Anker, 29.10.2005 [fcn 05-067]; 1 male, 1 ov. female, UP , Bocas del Toro, Cayo Solarte, Hospital Point , from sponge in rubble, coll. C. Hurt, 10.09.2006 [fcn 06-468B]; 1 ov. female, UP , same collection data [fcn 06-472]; 1 male, OUMNH. ZC . 2012-07-081, Bocas del Toro, Cayo Solarte, Hospital Point , coral rocks and sponges, coll. A. Anker et al., 04.08.2008 [fcn 08- 235B]; 1 ov. female, RMNH D54855 , Bocas del Toro , Isla Bastimentos, off Salt Creek , in cryptic sponges in rubble, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, 31.03.2008 [fcn 08-010*]; 6 males, RMNH D54854 , Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, Punta Caracol , in Lissodendoryx colombiensis , 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker et al. (shrimp taxonomy class), 08.08.2008 [fcn 08-233C]; 1 ov. female, RMNH D54853 , Isla Grande , between main village Playa de la Punta, coral rubble, in Calyx podatypa , 1.5 m, coll. A. Anker, 23.04.2006 [fcn 06-413*]; 1 male, OUMNH. ZC .2012-07-128, Isla Grande , between main village and Playa de la Punta, cryptic sponge in coral rocks, 1–1.5 m, coll. E. Tóth, 05.09.2006 [fcn 06-741] . Brazil: 1 male, 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC . 2012-07-132, Alagoas, Maceió, Ponta Verde , deep tide pool on partly exposed reef, in unidentified yellow-orange sponge, 0.5 m (at low tide), coll. A. Anker, P. Pachelle, 03.08.2012 [fcn 12-335]; 1 female, MZUSP 27619 , Alagoas, Maceió, Ponta Verde , deep tide pool on partly exposed reef, in unidentified yellow-orange sponge, 0.5 m (at low tide), coll. A. Anker, P. Pachelle, 02.08.2012 [fcn 12-268] .

Material tentatively identified as Synalpheus ul (?): Panama: 1 male, 1 female, MNHN-IU-2010-4159, Isla Grande, between main village and Playa de la Punta, in cryptic sponge within coral rubble, 1–1.5 m, coll. A. Anker, 04.09.2006 [fcn 06-443*]; 1 ov. female, MNHN-IU-2010-4158, same collection data [fcn 06-435*]; 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-082, same collection data [fcn 06-438*]; 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-129, Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, Punta Caracol, 1–3 m, possibly in Lissodendoryx colombiensis , coll. A. Anker, J.A. Baeza, 28.04.2007 [fcn 07-137B]; 1 ov. female, RMNH D54852, Isla Grande , between main village and Playa de la Punta, cryptic sponge in coral rocks, 1–1.5 m, coll. A. Anker, 04.09.2006 [fcn 06-436*]. Dominican Republic: 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-131, Bayahibe , eroded corals and coral rocks with algal crusts, possibly in cryptic sponge, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, 02- 03.01.2005 [fcn 05-035*]. St. Martin: 1 ov. female, FLMNH UF 31934 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 9, Passe Espagnole, coral rubble brushing, coll. G. Paulay et al., 11.04.2012 [fcn BSTM-0351*]; 1 female (?), FLMNH UF 31963 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 22, Chicot, windward side of Tintamarre Island, coral reef, coral rubble brushing, 13–15 m, coll. G. Paulay et al., 12.04.2012 [fcn BSTM- 0481*, with hemiarthrine isopod]. Belize: 2 males, 1 female, OUMNH. ZC.2009-01-115, Carrie Bow Cay , Twin Cays, 1649.424’N 8806.346’W, seagrass sweep, coll. S. De Grave et al., 20.02.2009 [fcn CBC-050]. Guyana: 1 ov. female, NHM 1958: 11-12-8-9, 07°47’ N, 57°32’W, 33–35 fathoms (60–64 m), in unknown sponge, coll. McCormick 24.04.1938 .

Size range. Males, 3.0– 5.9 mm cl; females, 4.5–6.2 mm cl.

Colour in life. Semitransparent pale beige with small reddish chromatophores; major chela fingers darker greenish; ovaries or fresh eggs pale green ( Figs 47. 48a, b ); some specimens with a more intense orange lateral view on black background (f). Photographs by A. Anker.

Distribution. Western Atlantic: Caribbean Sea: Belize (Carrie Bow Cay], Panama [Bocas del Toro, San Blas Islands, Porvenir, Aguadargana], Jamaica [Discovery Bay], Dominican Republic [Bayahibe], St. Martin; Brazil: Alagoas, Bahia ( Ríos & Duffy 2007; Macdonald et al. 2009; Hultgren et al. 2010; Almeida et al. 2012; present study; see map in Fig. 53).

Ecology. Shallow subtidal reefs and associated rubble and seagrass flats with abundance of sponges; depth range: 1–3 m; obligate symbiont of demosponges, e.g. Hymeniacidon caerulea , Hyattella intestinalis , Calyx podatypa , Lissodendoryx colombiensis , Lissodendoryx sp. , Agelas cf. clathrodes , Xestospongia subtriangularis , Xestospongia sp. ( Ríos & Duffy 2007; Macdonald et al. 2009; Hultgren et al. 2010; present study), in Brazil: in unidentified yellow-orange sponge lining reef crevices (present study); typically in heterosexual pairs.

Remarks. Synalpheus ul belongs to the S. longicarpus species complex, which also includes S. longicarpus , S. hoetjesi , S. pandionis , S. dardeaui , and S. yano , and appears to be most closely related to the latter three species. Morphologically, S. ul can be distinguished from S. pandionis mainly by the absence of a blunt mesial protuberance on the pollex of the major chela, from S. dardeaui by the shorter and wider orbital teeth, and from S. yano by the presence of a small blade on the scaphocerite, which is always lacking in S. yano ( Ríos & Duffy 2007) . Based on a recent DNA analysis, S. ul was found to be phylogenetically closest to S. yano ( Hultgren & Duffy 2011) .

Some specimens from Panama (Isla Grande, Bocas del Toro), Dominican Republic (Bayahibe), St. Martin, Belize, and Guyana were tentatively identified as S. ul because of slight differences they present with the type specimens. In most of them, the antennal scaphocerite has a vestigial blade, and in some, the rostrum is much more slender than the orbital hoods. Some specimens from Panama (e.g., two from Isla Grande) and St. Martin appear to be more brightly red-coloured than the more typical S. ul ( Figs 48c, d , 49 ). The large ovigerous female (7.2 mm cl) from 60–64 m off “British Guyana ” (NHM) is especially problematic for it has many features of S. ul, but differs from the type specimens from Belize by the distinctly shorter scaphocerite tooth (about 0.75 length of basicerite tooth), longer scaphocerite blade (more like in S. goodei ), fewer teeth on the distolateral margin of the uropodal exopod (3–4 vs. typically 5 in S. ul), and slightly longer orbital teeth and carpus of the minor cheliped (more like in S. dardeaui ). On the other hand, the material of S. ul from the Brazilian state of Alagoas corresponds closely to the description of Ríos & Duffy (2007), corroborating a reidentification of the material from southern Bahia previously reported as S. cf. pandionis ( Almeida et al. 2007) , as S. ul ( Almeida et al. (2012). A molecular analysis of the present material of S. ul is planned to investigate the genetic structure of Caribbean and Brazilian populations and the possible presence of yet another cryptic taxon in the Caribbean Sea.

One female of S. ul (OUMNH.ZC.2012-07-083) is aberrant in lacking a rostrum. Specimens of Synalpheus without a rostrum but with well-developed orbital teeth were also observed in other species, for instance, in S. herricki (see above, Fig. 35a ) and in S. yano (A. Anker, pers. obs.). These observations put in question the validity of the eastern Pacific S. arostris Wicksten, 1989 , which is known from a single, possibly aberrant specimen without a rostrum. The status of S. arostris , which is not closely related to S. ul, will be discussed elsewhere.

Figures

FIGURE 35. Synalpheus herricki Coutière, 1909: a, b, male from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 16644); c–e, different specimens from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 16644); a, telson and uropod, dorsal; b, abdomen, lateral; c, telson and uropod, dorsal; d, telson, dorsal; e, frontal margin of carapace, dorsal. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 47. Synalpheus ul (Ríos & Duffy, 2007): a–d, ovigerous female from Bocas del Toro, Panama (RMNH D54855), in dorsal view on white (a) and black (b) backgrounds, in lateral view on white blackground (c), and on host sponge, possibly Calyx sp. (fragment) (d); e, ovigerous female from Isla Grande, Panama (RMNH D54853), in host sponge, Calyx podatypa (fragment). Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 48. Synalpheus ul (Ríos & Duffy, 2007) (?): a, b, ovigerous female from Bocas del Toro, Panama (RMNH D54852), in dorsal (a) and lateral (b) views; c, d, male (c) and ovigerous female (d) from Isla Grande, Panama (MNHN-IU-2010-4159); e, f, ovigerous female from the same locality (OUMNH.ZC.2012-07-082), in dorsal view on white background (e) and in

FIGURE 49. Synalpheus ul (Ríos & Duffy, 2007) (?): a, ovigerous female from St. Martin (FLMNH UF 31934), dorsal view, b, c, S. ul: ovigerous female from Alagoas, Brazil (MZUSP 27619), in c with host sponge. Photographs by A. Anker.