Pachycheles vicarius Nobili, 1901

Ferreira, Luciane Augusto De Azevedo & Anker, Arthur, 2021, An annotated and illustrated checklist of the porcelain crabs of Panama (Decapoda: Anomura), Zootaxa 5045 (1), pp. 1-154 : 59-60

Pachycheles vicarius Nobili, 1901

( Figs. 32 , 33 , 89A )

Pachycheles vicarius Nobili 1901:19 ; Haig 1960: 147, pl. 32, fig. 2; Haig 1968: 69; Gore & Abele 1974: 563; Gore & Abele 1976: 20; Werding & Haig 1982: 65; Lazarus-Agudelo & Cantera-Kintz 2007: 229; Moscoso 2012: 79, fig. 5F.

Material examined. Panama [Pacific]: 1 female, cl 4.7, cw 5.7 ( FLMNH UF 57135 ), Coiba Is ., Isla Coiba , northwest coast, small rocky island off Bahía Santa Cruz, 7°37’53.4”N, 81°46”44.9”W, rocky plateau, under rocks and in rock crevices, leg. M. Leray et al., 20.02.2019 (fcn PAN-150); 1 male, cl 4.9, cw 5.3 ( FLMNH UF 57705 ), Coiba Is ., Isla Coiba , northwest coast, small rocky island off Bahía Santa Cruz, 7°37’53.4”N, 81°46”44.9”W, rocky plateau, under rocks and in rock crevices, leg. M. Leray et al., 22.02.2019 (fcn PAN-224); 1 ov. female, cl 4.6, cw 5.4 ( MZUSP 33466 ), Punta Mala, rocky intertidal, under rocks, leg. A. Anker & J.F. Lazarus-Agudelo, 21.03.2015. Extra-limital material . Colombia [Pacific]: 1 male, cl 4.0, cw 4.6 (CRBM-UV-cr:2009-106), Los Negritos off Bahía Málaga, 03°53’47.5”N, 77°24’09.8”W, depth 0–1 m, large rocky outcrop with large boulders, under large rocks, many cemented by sponges, on coarse sand, leg. A. Anker, 27.04.2009 (fcn COL-254) .

Previous records from Panama. Haig (1960, 1968); Gore & Abele (1974, 1976).

Distribution. East Pacific: El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama (Coiba Is., Bahía Honda in Veraguas, Punta Mala, Las Perlas Is.) Colombia, Ecuador and Peru ( Haig 1960, 1968; Gore & Abele 1976; Lazarus-Agudelo and Cantera- Kintz 2007; Moscoso 2012; present study).

Ecology. Intertidal and shallow subtidal, known depth range: 0–8 m; typically under intertidal rocks and in crevices on rocky shores, but also in crevices of coral in deeper water ( Haig 1960; Gore & Abele 1976; present study).

Remarks. The presumed western Atlantic sister of P. vicarius is P. susanae (see above). Indeed, these two species share numerous morphological characters, including the presence of strong longitudinal crests on the dorsal surface of the P1 carpus and palm; the shape and number of the mesial teeth on the P1 carpus; and the telson composed of seven plates. They differ, however, in several important morphological characters, as summarised by Gore & Abele (1974), for instance, in the development of the male pleopods (present in P. vicarius vs. absent in P. susanae ) and the number of longitudinal crests on the P1 (four in P. vicarius vs. three in P. susanae ). As expected for sister taxa, the colour pattern of P. vicarius ( Figs. 32 , 33 ) is generally similar to that of P. susanae ( Figs. 28 , 29 ).

Figures

FIGURE 28. Pachycheles susanae Gore & Abele, 1974: A, B, male (cl 4.4 mm, cw 4.8 mm) from Bocas del Toro, Panama (FLMNH UF 57133), dorsal (A) and ventral (B) view [photographs courtesy of Paulo P.G Pachelle].

FIGURE 29. Pachycheles susanae Gore & Abele, 1974: ovigerous female (cl 4.8 mm, cw 5.6 mm) from Isla Grande, Panama (MZUSP 33470), dorsal view [photograph by AA].

FIGURE 32. Pachycheles vicarius Nobili, 1901: A, B, ovigerous female (cl 4.6 mm, cw 5.4 mm) from Punta Mala, Panama (MZUSP 33466), dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views [photographs by AA].

FIGURE 33. Pachycheles vicarius Nobili, 1901: A, male (cl 4.9 mm, cw 5.3 mm) from Coiba Island, Panama (FLMNH UF 57705), dorsal view; B, extra-limital specimen, male (cl 4.0 mm, cw 4.6 mm) from Los Negritos off Bahía Málaga, Colombia (CRBM-UV-cr:2009-106), dorsal view [photographs by AA].

FIGURE 89. Some eastern Pacific Porcellanidae (all species reported from Panama) photographed in situ: A, Pachycheles vicarius Nobili, 1901, Bahía Málaga, Colombia; B, C, Petrolisthes edwardsii (de Saussure, 1853), Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico (B), and Malpelo Island, Colombia (C); D, Petrolisthes donadio Hiller & Werding, 2007, Malpelo Island, Colombia, near sea urchin, Diadema mexicanum Agassiz; E, Petrolisthes glasselli Haig, 1957, Malpelo Island, Colombia; F, Petrolisthes haigae Chace, 1962, Malpelo Island, Colombia [photographs courtesy of Juan-Felipe Lazarus-Agudelo (A, C–F) and Jeff Goddard (B)].