Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 11-14

Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979

( Figs 5 , 6 )

Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard 1979: 110 , figs 1–4; Dardeau 1984: 12, figs 3-6; Martínez-Iglesias et al. 1996: 35; McClure 2005: 166, figs 30-32; Coelho Filho 2006: 8 ; Macdonald et al., 2009: 7, pl. 1A, B; Hultgren et al. 2010: 226, pl. 1A–C.

Zuzalpheus agelas — Ríos & Duffy 2007: 7 , pl. 1.

Synalpheus sp. near. rathbunae — Pequegnat & Ray 1974: 250, figs 58, 59 (not S. rathbunae Coutière, 1909 ).

Material examined. St. Martin: 1 ov. female, FLMNH UF 32276 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 40, Circus dive site off Tintamarre Island, coral reef, under large coral debris on silt-sand bottom, 13–17 m, in unidentified sponge [host fcn BSTM-1173], coll. G. Paulay et al., 19.04.2012 [fcn BSTM-1141*]. Brazil: 6 males, 3 ov. females (1 dissected) , 3 juveniles, MNRJ 23330 , 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 ; 2 males, 1 ov. female, MNRJ 17896 , Atol das

Rocas, LT 710, R 11, 3˚51'747S, 33˚49'497W, in unidentified sponge, 14 m, coll. P.S. Young, P.C. Paiva, A.A. Aguiar, 16.10.2000; 2 males, 3 ov. females, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-141, Atol das Rocas, Canal do Barretão, in unidentified sponge, ~ 5 m, coll. F.B. Pitombo, R. Barroso, 26.12.2000. frontal region, dorsal; b, third maxilliped, lateral; c, same, tip of ultimate article; d, major chela, lateral; e, major chela fingers, mesial; f, major cheliped, coxa to carpus, mesial; g, minor cheliped, lateral; h, second pereiopod, lateral; i, third pereiopod, lateral; j, telson and right uropod, dorsal. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Material tentatively identified as Synalpheus agelas (?): 1 immature specimen (sex not determined), MZUSP 26392 , REVIZEE Comissão Central 2, sta. Astro Garoupa , off Espírito Santo, 20°36’51”S 34°53’39”W, 60 m, 11.11.1997 .

Description. For description and illustrations see Pequegnat & Heard (1979) and Dardeau (1984); see also Ríos & Duffy (2007); illustrations of the Atol das Rocas material of S. agelas are provided in Fig. 5 .

Size range. Males, 2.7–5.5 mm cl; females, 4.5–5.8 mm cl.

Colour in life. Mostly semitransparent orange, speckled with reddish chromatophores dorsally on carapace, laterally on abdomen, and some also on pereiopods; ovaries and fresh eggs bright orange; major and minor chelae darker orange distally ( Fig. 6 ; see also Ríos & Duffy 2007: pl. 1).

Type locality. Sonnier Bank , off Texas, Gulf of Mexico.

al. 1996; Ríos & Duffy 2007); Brazil: Pará, Amapá, Atol das Rocas and North Chain off northeastern Brazil, possibly also off Espírito Santo ( Coelho Filho 2006; Coelho et al. 2006; present study; see map in Fig. 51 ).

Ecology. Coral reefs and similar subtidal habitats with abundance of sponges; known depth range 5–56 m ( Coelho Filho 2006; present study); always associated with demosponges Agelas clathrodes and A. dispar , e.g. in the Flower Garden Banks and in Belize ( Dardeau 1984; Ríos & Duffy 2007); sponge hosts for the Atol das Rocas specimens remain undetermined; typically found in male-female pairs.

Remarks. One of the most important diagnostic characters of S. agelas is the four-articulated carpus of the second pereiopod (P2) ( Dardeau 1984). Interestingly, some young individuals of S. brooksi associated with sponges of the genus Agelas also have a four-articulated P2 carpus and using the species key in Ríos & Duffy (2007) would key out to S. agelas .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979: ovigerous female from Atol das Rocas, Brazil (MNRJ 23330); a,

FIGURE 6. Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979: ovigerous female from St. Martin (FLMNH UF 32276) in dorsal (a) and lateral (b) views. Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 51. Presently known geographic ranges of Synalpheus africanus Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. cf. africanus (eastern and western Atlantic); S. agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979; S. anasimus Chace, 1972; S. antillensis Coutière, 1909; S. apioceros Coutière, 1909; S. bocas Anker & Tóth, 2008; S. bousfieldi Chace, 1972; S. brooksi Coutière, 1909; S. carpenteri Macdonald & Duffy, 2006; S. chacei Duffy, 1998; S. congoensis Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. dardeaui (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. dominicensis Armstrong, 1949; S. elizabethae (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. filidigitus Armstrong, 1949; S. fritzmuelleri Coutière, 1909; S. goodei