Synalpheus townsendi Coutière, 1909

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 70-72

Synalpheus townsendi Coutière, 1909

( Figs 45 , 46 )

Synalpheus townsendi Coutière 1909: 32 (partim), fig. 14; Zimmer 1913: 381; Hay & Shore 1918: 384, fig. 7, pl. 26, fig. 1; Verrill 1922: 100, pl. 47, fig. 3–3d; Schmitt 1935: 151; Pearse & Williams 1951: 143; Williams 1965: 72, fig. 58; Rouse 1970: 138; Chace 1972: 104; Pequegnat & Ray 1974: 249, 53d, 55; Abele 1976: 273; Gore et al. 1978: 225; Christoffersen 1979: 352; Rodríguez 1980: 156; Gore 1981: 138; Reed et al. 1982: 768; Williams 1984: 106, fig. 73; Criales 1984: 31; Abele & Kim 1986: 203, 226-227, figs f–h; Sterrer 1986: 325, text-pl. 105; Duffy 1992: 131; Christoffersen 1998: 364; McClure 2005: 190, fig. 58; Bezerra & Coelho 2006: 701.

Synalpheus townsendi townsendi — Chace 1956: 147; Coelho & Ramos 1972: 150.

Synalpheus townsendi productus Coutière 1909: 33 , fig. 15.

Synalpheus sanctithomae — Bezerra & Coelho 2006: 701 (not S. sanctithomae Coutière, 1909 ).

Material examined. Panama: 1 male, MNHN-IU-2010-4156 , Panama, Bocas del Toro, Isla Colón, Boca del Drago , coral rocks, 0.5–2 m, coll. A. Anker, J.A. Vera Caripe, 11.11.2006 [fcn 06-548*]; 1 male, 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-077, La Guaira , coral rocks, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, J.A. Baeza, 04.08.2007 [fcn 07-215*]. Honduras: 1 male, OUMNH. ZC.2007-20-062, Utila, in front of Coral View , 16°05.326’N 086°54.652’W, coral reed, 10 m, in Ircinia sp. , coll. A. Anker, S. De Grave, 28.06.2007 [fcn H4-1*]; 2 males, 2 females, OUMNH. ZC.2007-20-063, Utila, Halibourton Wreck , 16°05.049’N 086°53.805’W, 20 m, coral rubble, coll. A. Anker, S. De Grave, 05.07.2007 [H177*]; 1 male, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-138, Utila, Halibourton Wreck , 20 m, encrustations on Spondylus americanus , 1605.049’N 08653.805’W, coll. A. Anker, S. De Grave, 05.07.2007 [fcn H174]; 2 males, OUMNH. ZC.2007-20-103, Utila , 16°05.294’ N, 086°59.844’ W, 20 m, in Verongula rigida , coll. S. De Grave, A. Anker, 04.07.2007 . Jamaica: 3 males, 1 ov. female, USNM, Discovery Bay, Columbus Park , coral rubble, 2–4 m, coll. K. Hultgren, 05.01.2008 [fcn JAM08-4720 - 23 ] (specimens currently used for molecular studies) . Curaçao: 1 male, USNM 1187904 , Westpunt , coral rubble, 1–3 m, coll. K. Hultgren, 22.06.12 [fcn CU08- 6803] . Barbados: 1 male, USNM 1187908 , Thunder Bay , coral rubble, 1–3 m, coll. K. Hultgren, 23.10.2008 [fcn BR08 10202, 10205] . Brazil: 1 female (dissected), MNRJ 23339 , Atol das Rocas, Canal do Barretão, in unidentified sponge, ~ 5 m, coll. F.B. Pitombo, R. Barroso , 26.12.2000 ; 2 ov. females and 1 immature specimen, MNRJ 23340 , Atol das Rocas , sta. LT 711, in sponges and algae, coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, 16.10.2000 ; 1 male, 3 ov. females, MNRJ 17903 , Atol das Rocas , off sta. R-15, 20 m, in unidentified sponge, coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, A.A. Aguiar, 23.10.2000 ; 1 male, 1 female and 1 immature specimen, MNRJ 17910 , Atol das Rocas, sta. LT 697, Falsa Barreta , in corals Siderastrea sp. and Mussismilia sp. , coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, A.A. Aguiar, 10.2000 [specimens missing major cheliped, identification tentative] ; 5 males, 9 females (some ov.), MZUSP 25344 , Rio de Janeiro, Bacia de Campos , Petrobras Platform P-65, fouling growth, 16 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 30.03.2010 .

Description. For description and illustrations see Coutière (1909) and Williams (1984); illustrations of a

Size range. Males, 2.8–3.7 mm cl; females, 2.9–3.3 mm cl; specimens from a Brazilian offshore oil platform (MZUSP 25344) significantly larger: largest female at 4.8 mm cl, largest male at 4.3 mm cl.

Colour in life. Semitransparent with greenish tinge and scattered reddish chromatophores grouped into a more conspicuous red band between the eyes; major chela palm distally greenish, dactylus mostly colourless with greenish-yellow margin; eggs greenish ( Fig. 46 ).

Type locality. South of Cape San Blas , Florida .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: North Carolina to Florida and Texas; Gulf of Mexico; Bermuda; Caribbean Sea (e.g., Honduras, Panama, Jamaica, Curaçao, Barbados); Brazil: Ceará, Atol das Rocas, Alagoas, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro (e.g., Chace 1972; Williams 1984; Christoffersen 1979, 1998; McClure 2005; Bezerra & Coelho 2006; present study; see map in Fig. 52 ).

Ecology. Lower intertidal to 102 m ( Williams 1984); known from a variety of microhabitats, such as crevices of sabellariid reefs ( Phragmatopoma ), living and dead corals (e.g., Oculina , Porites , Siderastrea , Mussismilia ), sunken wood perforated by shipworms, sponges, including Agelas clathrodes , Ircinia strobilina , Ircinia sp. ( Rouse

1970; Gore et al. 1978; Rodríguez 1980; Reed et al. 1982; Duffy 1992; present study); and colonial ascidians, Didemnidae ( Fig. 35e ); a single report of a very unusual association with the crinoid Davidaster rubiginosus by Criales (1984) requires confirmation; typically in heterosexual pairs.

Remarks. The present material differs from the typical S. townsendi , as illustrated by Coutière (1909), only slightly, e.g., by the distal tooth on the major chela palm very slightly curving down and the third pereiopod propodus armed with only six spiniform setae on the ventral margin.

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 45. Synalpheus townsendi Coutière, 1909: a, female from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 23339); a, frontal region, dorsal; b, same, lateral; c, third maxilliped, lateral; d, major cheliped, distal merus, carpus, and chela, lateral; e, major chela, mesial; f, major cheliped, coxa to carpus, lateral; g, minor cheliped, mesial; h, same, lateral; i, minor chela and carpus, lateral; j, second pereiopod, lateral; k, third pereiopod, lateral; l, same, carpus, propodus and dactylus, lateral; m, uropod, dorsal; n, telson, dorsal. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 46. Synalpheus townsendi Coutière, 1909: a, male and ovigerous female from Utila, Honduras (OUMNH.ZC.2007- 20-063); b, ovigerous female from the same locality (OUMNH.ZC.2007-20-063); c, d, male from the same locality (OUMNH.ZC.2007-20-062), on white (c) and black (d) backgrounds; e, ovigerous female from the same locality (same as in a, OUMNH.ZC.2007-20-063), found associated with a colonial ascidian of the family Didemnidae; f, male and ovigerous female from La Guaira, Panama (OUMNH.ZC.2012-07-077). Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 52. Presently known geographic ranges of Synalpheus hoetjesi Hultgren, Macdonald & Duffy, 2010; S. idios (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. kensleyi (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. cf. longicarpus (Herrick, 1891); S. obtusifrons Chace, 1972; S. pandionis Coutière, 1909; S. parfaiti Coutière, 1898; S. pectiniger Coutière, 1909; S. rathbunae Coutière, 1909; S. regalis Duffy, 1996; S. sanctithomae Coutière, 1909; S. scaphoceris Coutière, 1910; S. senegambiensis Coutière, 1908; S. townsendi Coutière, 1909; S. ul (Ríos & Duffy, 2007) and S. yano (Ríos & Duffy, 2007).