Automate anacanthopus De Man, 1910

(Fig. 11)

Automate anacanthopus De Man 1910: 317; De Man 1911: 142, (1915) pl. 1, fig. 3; Ledoyer 1970: 127, pls. 17, 24 A; Banner & Banner 1983: 82, 158; Banner & Banner 1985: 34; Bruce 1990: 628, fig. 9.

Material examined. Indonesia. 1 specimen (sex not determinable) (MZB Cru 4044), western Lombok, Teluk Medana, seagrass flat with sand, mud, some rubble-gravel, burrow, suction pump and digging/sieving, 0.2–0.7 m, 12 May 2014 [LB-St3-02]; 1 specimen (sex not determinable) (MZB Cru 4045), same collection data [LB-St3-13]; 1 female (OUMNH.ZC. 2014-10-10), western Lombok, Sira, seagrass flat with some muddy areas, burrow, suction pump and digging/sieving, 0.2–0.5 m, leg. D.L. Rahayu et al., 13 May 2014 [LB-St4-19].

Taxonomic account. See De Man (1911); see also Ledoyer (1970) and Bruce (1990) for additional illustrations.

Habitat. Sand-silt-mud flats and seagrass beds; probably living “commensally” in burrows of other animals. Depth range: intertidal to 75 m (type material from Sulawesi, De Man 1910).

Distribution. Indo-West Pacific: Madagascar, Réunion, Indonesia, Hong Kong (De Man 1911; Ledoyer 1970; Banner & Banner 1983, 1985; Bruce 1990; present study).

Remarks. Automate anacanthopus is presently seen as a single, morphologically variable taxon (compare figures in De Man 1915; Ledoyer 1970; Bruce 1990), found both in the intertidal and deep-water habitats (0–75 m). The material from Lombok generally agrees with De Man’s description of the type specimens. The previously unknown colouration of A. anacanthopus is illustrated in Fig. 11; the shrimps are mostly semitransparent, scarcely dotted with bright red spots; ovaries or fresh eggs in females are yolk-yellow.