Podocerus fissipes Serejo, 1995

Figs 29, 33 C

Podocerus fissipes Serejo, 1995 [1996]: 49–55, figs 1–3; Baldinger and Gable 2002: 11–19, figs 6–12; LeCroy 2011: 702, fig. 560.

Material examined.

Panama • 3–5.1 mm • 2 ♂, 5 ♀; Bocas del Toro, Hospital Bight, 9.3044°N, 82.1316°W, depth 1.5 m, among coral rubble; 7 Aug 2005; S. LeCroy leg.; GCRL 6672 • 3 ♂, 8 ♀, 2 juveniles; Bocas del Toro, Hospital Point, 9.3333°N, 82.2185°W, depth 11 m, from buoy scrapings; 26 June 2023; K. N. White leg.; USNM 1743975 • 9 ♂, 7 ♀, 1 juvenile; Bocas del Toro, Crawl Caye, 9.2475°N, 82.1290°W, depth 0–1 m, from buoy scrapings; 28 June 2023; K. N. White leg.; USNM 1743976 .

Diagnosis.

Maxilla 2 inner and outer plates each with two rows of apical setae. Gnathopod 2 merus without robust setae; propodus with two robust setae at palmar angle. Uropods 1 and 2 without interramal spines. Telson apex truncate with two long and two short setae.

Distribution.

Brazil: Prainha in Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro; Santo Aleixo Island, Serinhaém, Pernambuco (Serejo 1995); British Virgin Islands: Guana (Baldinger and Gable 2002); U. S. A.: Biscayne Bay, Florida (LeCroy 2011); Bocas del Toro (present study).

Ecology and remarks.

Panamanian specimens agree with previous descriptions of Podocerus fissipes with the following exceptions: variation in dorsal carinae; gnathopod 2 with two robust setae (vs one robust seta in Serejo 1995 and LeCroy 2011). Baldinger and Gable (2002), however, also describe two robust setae on the gnathopod 2 propodus. The variation may be due to the size difference (Panama = 4.6 mm, B. V. I. = 3.0 mm, Brazil = 2.3 mm) or due to regional variation. Live specimens have orange coloration lining pereonites and are covered with orange speckles.