Synalpheus bousfieldi Chace, 1972

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 24-25

Synalpheus bousfieldi Chace, 1972

( Fig. 14 )

Synalpheus bousfieldi Chace 1972: 86 , figs 29-30 (partim); Dardeau 1984: 19, figs 7-10 (partim); Abele & Kim 1986: 202, 220-221, figs h–j; Martínez-Iglesias et al. 1996: 35; Coelho Filho 2006: 9 ; Macdonald & Duffy 2006: 15, figs 14, 15; Macdonald et al. 2009: 11, fig. 3; Hultgren et al. 2010: 227, pls. 2C–F, 3A–B; Hultgren et al. 2011: 5.

Zuzalpheus bousfieldi — Ríos & Duffy 2007: 10 , pl. 1.

Material examined. Panama: 1 male, USNM 1187895 , Bocas del Toro, Swan Cay, in Hyattella intestinalis , 1–3 m, coll. K. Hultgren, 24.06.2009 [fcn P09-6003-1]. Brazil: 2 males (1 dissected), 1 ov. female, MNRJ 23332 , Atol das Rocas, LT 703, Laguna Central, close to Piscina do Guarapirá , coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, A.A. Aguiar, 15.10.2000 .

Description. For description and illustrations see Chace (1972), Dardeau (1984), and Macdonald & Duffy (2006); see also Ríos & Duffy (2007); illustrations of the Atol das Rocas material of S. bousfieldi are provided in Fig. 14 .

Size range. Brazilian specimens: males, 2.7, 3.5 mm cl; female, 4.1 mm cl; Panamanian specimens not measured but within the typical size range of S. bousfieldi , 2.9–4.1 mm cl ( Ríos & Duffy 2007).

Colour in life. The colour of the Panamanian and Atol das Rocas specimens was not recorded. The specimens from other localities were described as mostly semitransparent, with maturing ovaries and freshly laid eggs orangeyellow ( Dardeau 1984; see also Ríos & Duffy 2007: pl. 1).

Type locality. Vigin Gorda , British Virgin Islands .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: Bahamas; Gulf of Mexico: West Flower Garden Banks off Texas, Alacranes Reef; throughout Caribbean Sea (e.g., Yucatan, Belize, Haiti, Cuba, Panama, Curaçao, British Virgin Islands, Barbados); Brazil: Amapá to Ceará and possibly Bahia, Atol das Rocas (e.g., Chace 1972; Christoffersen 1979,

Ecology. Shallow hard-bottom habitats, e.g., coral reefs with abundance of sponges; typical depth range 5–20 m; obligate symbiont of demosponges, typically associated with Hyattella intestinalis on the outer ridge of barrier reefs, occasionally also in Hymeniacidon caerulea , Hymeniacidon amphilecta , Lissodendoryx sp. (?), Aiolochroia crassa , Agelas cf. clathrodes , Xestospongia subtriangularis , X. proxima , and a “cryptic, unidentified white sponge growing among coral rubble ( Dardeau 1984; Ríos & Duffy 2007; Hultgren et al. 2010; present study); reports of associations of S. bousfieldi with living corals, such as Madracis decactis ( Dardeau 1984) , require confirmation; abundant records of S. bousfieldi from Agelas spp. in Dardeau (1984) possibly refer to the closely related S. & Duffy 2007). In the Atol das Rocas specimens, the rostrum and orbital teeth are very short ( Fig. 14 ), as in some specimens of S. bousfieldi illustrated by Dardeau (1984: fig. 9), and in most other characters they are closer to S. bousfieldi ( Fig. 14 ). Although the Brazilian material fits the description of S. bousfieldi , a genetic analysis of the Brazilian material is desirable to confirm its identity.

Figures

FIGURE 14. Synalpheus bousfieldi Chace, 1972: male from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 23332); a, frontal region, dorsal; b, same, lateral; c, major chela, lateral; d, major chela fingers, mesial; e, major cheliped, coxa to carpus, lateral; f, minor cheliped, lateral; g, minor chela, lateral; h, second pereiopod, lateral; i, third pereiopod, lateral; j, telson and uropod, dorsal. Scale bars = 1 mm.