Synalpheus regalis Duffy 1996

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 65-66

Synalpheus regalis Duffy 1996

Synalpheus regalis Duffy 1996a: 564 , figs 1–5; Macdonald et al. 2006: 172; 2009: 42, fig. 10, pl. 5B.

Synalpheus " rathbunae C"— Duffy 1996b: 312.

Zuzalpheus regalis — Ríos and Duffy 2007: 58 , fig. 26, pl. 4.

Material examined. Panama: 2 colony members, USNM 1187900, Bocas del Toro, Swan Cay, in Xestospongia sp. , 2–5 m, coll. K. Hultgren, 15.06.2009 [fcn P09-7601-2]; 4 ov. females, 21 colony members, Bocas del Toro, Swan Cay, in Xestospongia sp. , 2–5 m, coll. K. Hultgren, 15.06.2009 [fcn 6401-6403, 7001-7002, 7402, 7601-1] (specimens currently used for molecular studies).

Description. For detailed description and illustrations see Duffy (1996).

Size range. Colony members, 1.2–3.2 mm cl, females, 2.1–4.2 mm cl.

Colour in life. Translucent pale orange, with distal portion of major chela sometimes bright orange or yellow; embryos and ovaries typically pale green; see Ríos and Duffy (2007) and Macdonald et al. (2009) for colour photographs.

Type locality. Carrie Bow Cay , Belize .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: Caribbean Sea: Belize [Carrie Bow Cay]; Jamaica [Discovery Bay]; Panama [Bocas del Toro] ( Duffy 1996 a, Macdonald et al. 2006, 2009; Ríos and Duffy 2007; present study; see map in Fig. 52 ). present study), and occasionally also Lissodendoryx cf. strongylata and Hymeniacidon caerulea ( Ríos & Duffy 2007) ; social species, typically found in groups of up to several hundred individuals, with one reproductive female or queen ( Duffy 1996a, 1996b; Macdonald et al. 2006).

Remarks. Synalpheus regalis was the first-described social species and is here recorded from Panama for the first time. In the Bocas del Toro archipelago, it co-occurs with the closely related S. elizabethae (see above), from which it can be distinguished by the more rounded ventral projections on the pleura ( Ríos & Duffy 2007).

Figures

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).