Damithrax hispidus (Herbst, 1790)

Carmona-Suárez, Carlos & Poupin, Joseph, 2016, Majoidea crabs from Guadeloupe Island, with a documented list of species for the Lesser Antilles (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura, Majoidea), Zoosystema 38 (3), pp. 353-387 : 367-368

Damithrax hispidus (Herbst, 1790)

( Fig. 5K )

Cancer hispidus Herbst, 1790 (1782-1804): 245 (type locality: not indicated).

Mithrax hispidus – H. Milne Edwards 1834 -1840: 322 (Antilles). — Desbonne in Desbonne & Schramm 1867: 7 ( Guadeloupe). — A. Milne-Edwards 1873-1880: 93 ( Guadeloupe, Martinique). — Rathbun 1924b: 20 ( Curaçao).

Mithrax laevimanus Desbonne in Desbonne & Schramm, 1867: 7 ( Guadeloupe). — A. Milne-Edwards 1873-1880: 94 ( Guadeloupe).

Mithrax depressus A. Milne-Edwards, 1873 -1880: 96 ( Guadeloupe). Mithrax carribbaeus – Rathbun 1920: 23 ( St Thomas); 1924b: 20 ( Curaçao); 1925: 409 ( St Thomas, Barbados, Curaçao); 1933: 30 (St Croix). — Holthuis 1959: 76 (St Martin). — Hernández et al 1999: table 2 (Margarita). — Marcano & Bolaños 2001: 78 (Cubagua). — Carré 2005: 23 ( Martinique). — Tagliafico et al. 2005: table 1, Margarita (Los Frailes). — Hernández-Ávila et al. 2007: table 1 (Cubagua).

Mithrax (Mithrax) hispidus – Rathbun 1925: 406 ( Guadeloupe, Curaçao). — Scelzo & Varela 1988: 37 (Blanquilla). — Wagner 1990: 17 ( St Thomas, St Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Bonaire, Klein Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba, Tobago). — García et al. 1998: 27 ( Isla de Aves ). — Carré 2005: 23 ( Martinique).— Lira et al. 2013: table 1 ( Isla de Aves, Los Testigos, Margarita, Coche, Cubagua, Los Roques ).

Mithrax (Mithrax) laevimanus – Rathbun 1925: 419 ( Guadeloupe)

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Guadeloupe. KARUBENTHOS 2012, 2♀ MNHN-IU-2013-4559 (lot JL1067-3), st. GB 20, 1 m ; 1 juv. without chelae, MNHN-IU-2013-4980 ( JL1256-4 ), st. GB 24, 25 m ; 1♀ MNHN-IU-2013-4954 (lot JL1134), st. GD 39, 1 m; 1♀ juv., MNHN-IU-2013-14663 (lot JL36-3), st. GM02, 1 m; 1♀ MNHN-IU-2013-6621 (lot JL704), st. GM 11, 1 m; 1 ♂ MNHN- IU-2013-6728 (lot JL377), st. GR 11, 13 m.

DIAGNOSIS. — Three antero-lateral branchial spines, the anterior one of which is bifid, and a postero-lateral spine. Rostral sinus distinctly U-shaped, as wide or nearly as wide as either horn. Two spines on anterior margin of arm, carpus almost smooth (see Windsor & Felder 2009, fig. 2a).

HABITAT. — Rock, sand and mud bottoms; on serpulids, hydroids, sponges, corals, seagrass, algae, Rhizophora mangle . Collected 1-25 m, reported to 65 m.

DISTRIBUTION. — Western Atlantic. Delaware Bay, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Panamá, Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana, Brazil. Lesser Antilles VI ( St Thomas, St Croix), ICA (St Martin, Guadeloupe, Isla de Aves, Martinique), IOV (Los Testigos, Los Frailes, Coche, Margarita, Cubagua, Blanquilla, Los Roques, Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba).

REMARKS

Genus Damithrax and Mithracinae elevated to Mithracidae from Windsor & Felder (2014). Other synonymies from WoRMS (2016). Damithrax hispidus forms a species complex with D. pleuracanthus ( Stimpson, 1871) and D. tortugae ( Rathbun, 1920) and these species can be difficult to recognize, especially for juveniles. Wagner (1990) consider that the two later are synonyms of D. hispidus while Windsor & Felder (2009) separate them by using both molecular biology and morphological characters.

Damithrax pleuracanthus ( Stimpson, 1871) ( Fig. 5 L )

Mithrax pleuracanthus Stimpson, 1871: 116 (type locality: Key West, Tortugas; also St Thomas). — A. Milne-Edwards 1873-1880: 95 ( Guadeloupe, Martinique). — Rathbun 1924b: 20 ( Curaçao). — Scelzo & Varela 1988: 37 (Blanquilla).

Mithrax (Mithrax) pleuracanthus – Rathbun 1925: 411 ( St Thomas, St Martin, Curaçao). — Lira et al. 2013: table 1 (Los Roques).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Guadeloupe. KARUBENTHOS 2012, 1♀ juv. MNHN-IU-2013-13083 (lot JL457-2), st. GB06, 23 m ; 1♀ juv., MNHN-IU-2013-14658 (lot JL563-3), st. GB09, 6 m; 2♂ juv., MNHN-IU-2013-13090 (lot JL1287-6), st. GD 51, 15 m; 1 ♀ juv. MNHN-IU-2013-14651 (lot JL55-3), st. GR01, 3 m; 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-5950 (lot JL88), 1♀ juv.MNHN-IU-2013-13080 ( JL84-2 ), st. GR02, 20 m.

DIAGNOSIS. — Of the four lateral protuberances of the carapace, the last is spiniform, the others tuberculated; second branchial tubercle reduced in size. A small postero-lateral tubercle. Rostral sinus Vshaped in the young, U-shaped in the old. A tuberculated spine on anterior margin of arm, carpus slightly granulous (see Windsor & Felder, 2009, fig. 2b).

HABITAT. — Found in rocky infra-littoral, sand bottoms, Thalassia and Syringodium meadows. Collected between 3-23 m reported to 51 m.

DISTRIBUTION. — Must be revised because the species was sometimes treated as a synonym of D. hispidus . From Rathbun (1925), North Carolina, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. In Lesser Antilles VI ( St Thomas), ICA (St Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique), IOV (Blanquilla, Los Roques, Curaçao).

REMARKS

Wagner (1990) considers Damithrax pleuracanthus as a ‘ smooth’ form of D. hispidus but the two species are separated by Windsor & Felder (2009).

Figures

FIG. 5. — Pisinae Dana, 1851: A, Leptopisa setirostris (Stimpson, 1871), 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-4901, st. GD68, 33 m; B, Macrocoeloma concavum Miers, 1886, 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-4901, st. GM34, 1 m; C, D, Macrocoeloma diplacanthum (Stimpson, 1860), 1♀ MNHN-IU-2013-6755, st. GD49, 3 m (D, showing bifid postero-lateral spine); E, Macrocoeloma eutheca (Stimpson, 1871), 1 ov. ♀ MNHN-IU-2013-13091, st. GD69, 60 m; F, Macrocoeloma laevigatum (Stimpson, 1860), 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-5134 (lot JL1410), st. GD63, 20 m; G, Macrocoeloma nodipes (Desbonne, in Desbonne & Schramm 1867), 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-4312, st. GB01, 6 m; H, Macrocoeloma subparallelum (Stimpson, 1860), 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-4961, st. GM08, 1 m; I, J, Macrocoeloma trispinosum (Latreille, 1825), 1♂ MNHN-IU-2013-5951, st. GR39, 5 m. Mithracidae (Windsor & Felder, 2014): K, Damithrax hispidus (Herbst, 1790), specimen not retrieved in MNHN collection, st. GR15 (lot JL497), 11 m; L, Damithrax pleuracanthus (Stimpson, 1871), 1 ♂ MNHN-IU-2013-5950, st. GR20, 8 m; M, Damithrax tortugae (Rathbun, 1920), 1♂ juv. MNHN-IU-2013-5925, st. GR41, 28 m.