Alpheus clamator Lockington, 1877

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 60-62

Alpheus clamator Lockington, 1877

( Fig. 14E–H)

Alpheus clamator Lockington 1877b: 43 . — Kingsley 1878a: 197. — Holmes 1900: 182, pl. 2, figs. 38–40. — Holthuis 1952b:

49. — Word & Charwat 1976: 45. — Chace & Abbott 1980: 570, fig. 23.2. — Wicksten 1984a: 187; 1990a: 100; 1994:

120. — Ricketts et al. 1985: 188, fig. 161. — Kim & Abele 1988: 21, fig. 8. — Jensen 1995: 44, fig. 69. — Kuris et al.

2007: 637, pl. 317 A1.? Alpheus barbara Lockington, 1878: 471 . Alpheus dentipes: Rathbun 1904: 10 [not Alpheus dentipes Guerin, 1832 , eastern Atlantic species]. Crangon dentipes . — Schmitt 1921: 74, fig. 50. — Johnson & Snook 1927: 308, figs. 260, 264. Crangon clamator . — MacGinitie & MacGinitie 1968: 277, fig. 128.

Diagnosis. Rostrum broadly triangular, reaching to middle of visible part of first segment of antennular peduncle. Sharp tooth on each ocular hood, hoods separated from rostral carina by orbitorostral grooves. Second segment of antennular peduncle the longest, stylocerite not reaching to distal margin of first segment. Scaphocerite with blade shorter than distal tooth, tooth reaching to distal end of antennular peduncle. Basicerite usually with sharp lateral tooth, but may be absent or blunt. Major chela of pereopod 1 with movable finger opening, closing in almost horizontal plane, laterally compressed proximally, bluntly bulbous at apex, palm with superior, palmar, inferior grooves; superior crest distal to transverse groove terminating distally in strong tooth at base of movable finger, entire chela setose. Merus of cheliped without tooth at distal end. Minor chela of pereopod 1 compressed, palm with superior, inferior grooves on outer face, superior transverse depression, tuberculate posterior to superior transverse groove, merus without spine at distal end. Pereopod 2 with 5 carpal articles, article 1 longest. Pereopod 3 stout, with biunguiculate dactylus, propodus bearing 5 pairs movable spines; merus armed with strong tooth near distal end of inferior margin, ischium with one spine. Pereopods 4,5 similar to pereopod 3 but more slender, pereopod 5 lacking meral tooth, spine on ischium. Telson armed with 2 pairs dorsal spines, pair lateral spines on each side of convex margin. Total length to 37 mm.

Color in life. Much of body tan to brown, large chela mottled in red-brown and yellow ( Chace & Abbott 1980, fig. 23.2) Rostrum bluish. Anterior margin of carapace pale blue-white. Area posterior to anterior margin dark rusty brown to red band, followed by irregular white band, large area of yellow to rusty brown over posterior half of carapace. Antennae translucent orange, with mottled proximal segments. Large chela with complex pattern of dark brown blotches interspersed with china white patches bearing brown dots, apices of fingers red-orange. Minor chela mostly white with brown dots, with brown patches along superior margin. Posterior pereopods pale olive with brown chromatophores. Abdomen pale olive. Tail fan edged with golden setae. The body of California specimens appears greenish or brownish when seen from distance of more than 0.3 m. The color notes are from shrimp from Monterey Bay, California.

Habitat and depth. Tide pools, kelp holdfasts, worm tubes, rocky reefs, to 10 m.

Range. Dark Gulch, Mendocino County, California to San Bartholome Bay , Baja California . Type locality Santa Barbara I., California .

Remarks. Alpheus clamator has a lengthy list of synonyms. The original description was presented without illustrations in 1876, but was not published until the following year. Kingsley (1878a) referred specimens to the species. Holmes (1900) reported the species in a list of crustaceans from California, but Schmitt (1921) incorrectly named Holmes as the author in his account.

Lockington (1878a) described one of Kingsley's specimens as a new species, Alpheus barbara . This species supposedly differed from A. clamator in lacking teeth on the meri of the third pereopods, having slightly different proportions of the carpal articles of the second pereopod, and lacking a tooth on the basicerite of the antenna. The species was not illustrated. Lockington noted that the specimen was "damaged.” The type specimen of A. barbara has been lost. Examination of a large series of A. clamator suggests that proportions of the carpal articles can be difficult to measure accurately, and that a tooth on the basicerite can be lacking. Alpheus barbara is probably a synonym of A. clamator ( Wicksten 1990a) .

The nomenclature of the species was confused while the Californian species was considered to be identical with the European A. dentipes . Further examination proved the two to be distinct ( Holthuis 1952b). The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature decided in 1955 to award priority to the generic name Alpheus instead of Crangon , the generic name now used for the coastal or sand shrimps of the family Crangonidae .