Biffarius fragilis ( Biffar, 1970 )

Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Anker, Arthur, Mendes, Cecili B. & Bezerra, Luis E. A., 2016, Decapod crustaceans from the state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil: an updated checklist of marine and estuarine species, with 23 new records, Zootaxa 4131 (1), pp. 1-63 : 27

Biffarius fragilis ( Biffar, 1970)

( Figure 19 C, D)

Callianassa fragilis Biffar 1970: 45 , fig. 3.

Material examined. Brazil, Ceará: 1 female (with damaged abdomen), LIMCE-UFC 688, Paracuru, Praia da Pedra Rachada, coll. K. Vilanova, vi.2010.

Distribution. Western Atlantic: USA (Florida), Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Venezuela, Brazil (Ceará, Pernambuco); Eastern Pacific (?): Galapagos, Costa Rica (Felder et al. 2009; Botter-Carvalho et al. 2012; present study).

Remarks. The present specimen represents only the second record of Biffarius fragilis in Brazil, where the species appears to be less common than B. biformis (see above). The main differences between B. fragilis and B. biformis are the shape of the posterior margin of the telson (with a broad concavity in B. fragilis vs. straight in B. biformis ) and the proportions of the minor cheliped carpus (cf. Fig. 19 B, C). The identity of the eastern Pacific material of B. fragilis needs to be confirmed.

Figures

FIGURE 19. Biffarius biformis (Biffar, 1971) (A, B) and Biffarius fragilis (Biffar, 1970) (C, D): A, male from Icapuí, Ceará, Brazil (MZUSP 33461), in lateral view; B, male from Icapuí, Ceará, Brazil (MZUSP 33459), in lateral view; C, D, female from Paracuru, Ceará, Brazil (LIMCE-UFC 688), frontal region of carapace (C) and left (major) first cheliped (D), in lateral views. C and D in same scale. Scale bars: 1 mm. Photographs by P. P. G. Pachelle.