Gnathophyllum americanum Guérin-Méneville, 1856

(fig. 1)

Gnathophyllum americanum Guérin-Méneville, 1855: viii, pl. 2, fig. 14. — Chace and Bruce, 1993: 136. — Debelius, 2001: 32, unnumbered photo. — Jones and Morgan, 2002: 73, unnumbered photo. — Li and Bruce, 2006: 617. — Poupin and Juncker, 2010: 212, 2 unnumbered photos.

Material examined. St 26, 16/11/2009, 10h–11h30, Mutsumbatsou reef flat, 12°45'15.60"S, 45° 2'49.86"E, coll. KUW fieldwork, littoral investigation at low tide, reef flat and seagrass beds, 1 female (LC 2.0 mm, LT 9.5 mm), MNHN-Na 16044.

Colouration (fig. 1). The colouration of the specimen agrees well with Debelius (2001), Jones and Morgan (2002) and Poupin and Juncker (2010).

Distribution. Type locality: Cuba. Also known from Red Sea to South Africa, Mauritius, and eastward through Indo-Pacific region to South China Sea (Xisha Islands), Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Tasman Sea), Loyalty Islands, French Polynesia (Tuamotu Islands, Tahiti, Rikitea); western Atlantic from Bermuda and southern Florida throughout Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea; eastern Atlantic in Canary Islands.

Remarks. The only female specimen agrees well with the previous descriptions, colourations and illustrations. This very common gnathophyllid species from tropical and subtropical areas was not previously recorded from Mayotte with certainty.