Synalpheus pectiniger Coutière, 1907

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 64

Synalpheus pectiniger Coutière, 1907

Synalpheus pectiniger Coutière 1907: 611 ; Coutière 1909: 78, figs 48, 49; Schmitt 1935: 151; Pearse 1950: 150; Wass 1955: 144; Tabb & Manning 1961: 596; Rouse 1970: 138; Lyons et al. 1971: 31; Chace 1972: 103; Rodríguez 1980: 159; Bourdon & Markham 1980: 222; Westinga & Hoetjes 1981: 142; Lemaitre 1984: 426; Dardeau 1984: 98, figs 51–53; Abele & Kim 1986: 201, 218-219, figs e–g; Erdman & Blake 1987: 328; Duffy 1992: 131; Duffy 1993: 459; Martínez- Iglesias et al. 1996: 36; McClure 2005: 186, figs 53-55; Macdonald et al. 2009: 33.

Zuzalpheus pectiniger — Ríos & Duffy 2007: 57 , pl. 4.

Alpheus praecox Herrick 1888: 34 ; De Grave & Anker 2010: 53.

Material examined. USA: 1 male, 4 ov. females, 1 female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-073, Florida Keys, Bahia Honda, Seven Mile Bridge near Marathon, ocean side, in Spheciospongia vesparium (among other sponges, e.g., Ircinia sp. ), 0.5 m, coll. A. Anker, A.L. Rhyne, 19.04.2004 [fcn 04-002A]; 12 males, 7 ov. females, 3 juveniles, MNHN-IU-2010-4151, same collection data [fcn 04-002B].

Description. For description and illustrations see Coutière (1909) and Dardeau (1984); see also Ríos & Duffy (2007).

Size range. Males, 3.0– 4.4 mm cl; females, 3.6–4.5 mm cl.

Colour in life. Semitransparent with pinkish tinge; major chela fingers darker ( Ríos & Duffy 2007).

Type locality. Curaçao .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: Florida [Alligator Harbor, Crystal River, Florida Bay, Florida Keys etc.]; Gulf of Mexico; Bahamas [Eleuthera, Cay Sal Bank]; Caribbean Sea: Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Yucatan, Panama, etc. ( Coutière 1909; Dardeau 1984; Ríos & Duffy 2007; Macdonald et al. 2009; present study; see map in Fig. 52 ).

Ecology. Shallow reef flats or seagrass flats with rubble and sponges; depth range 1–20 m; obligate sponge symbiont and apparently a specialist of the loggerhead sponge Spheciospongia vesparium ; usually in heterosexual pairs.

Remarks. Synalpheus pectiniger can be distinguished from all other species of the S. gambarelloides group by the shape of the major chela, especially the very strong, sharp, anterodorsally directed distal tooth, and the pollex being much shorter than the dactylus ( Coutière 1909; Dardeau 1984). The only other western Atlantic species with the pollex much shorter than the dactylus is S. disparodigitus Armstrong, 1949 , in which, however, the distal tooth is a bulbous tubercle with a small, anteriorly directed point. The two species also differ in the shape of the orbital teeth and rostrum, as well as the armature of the fingertips of the minor cheliped and the number of lateral teeth on the uropodal exopod ( Armstrong 1949). These important differences suggest that S. disparodigitus and S. pectinger are not closely related and that a similar configuration of the major chela fingers evolved at least twice in the S. gambarelloides group. This is also supported by the molecular data showing a distant relationship between S. pectiniger and S. occidentalis Coutière, 1909 , an eastern Pacific species that appears to be morphologically close to S. disparodigitus ( Morrison et al. 2004; Hultgren & Duffy 2011).

The taxonomic status of Alpheus praecox Herrick, 1888 was recently clarified by De Grave & Anker (2010), who after a meticulous study of Herrick’s and Coutière’s descriptions and the associated collecting data (including description of host sponges) found it to be a senior synonym of S. pectiniger . However, for the sake of taxonomic stability, A. praecox was designated a nomen oblitum and placed in the synonymy of S. pectiniger .

Figures

FIGURE 52. Presently known geographic ranges of Synalpheus hoetjesi Hultgren, Macdonald & Duffy, 2010; S. idios (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. kensleyi (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. cf. longicarpus (Herrick, 1891); S. obtusifrons Chace, 1972; S. pandionis Coutière, 1909; S. parfaiti Coutière, 1898; S. pectiniger Coutière, 1909; S. rathbunae Coutière, 1909; S. regalis Duffy, 1996; S. sanctithomae Coutière, 1909; S. scaphoceris Coutière, 1910; S. senegambiensis Coutière, 1908; S. townsendi Coutière, 1909; S. ul (Ríos & Duffy, 2007) and S. yano (Ríos & Duffy, 2007).