Synalpheus parfaiti Coutière, 1898

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 63

Synalpheus parfaiti Coutière, 1898

( Fig. 42 )

Synalpheus laevimanus var. Parfaiti Coutière 1898: 191 ; Coutière 1899: 145, fig. 138.

Synalpheus parfaiti — Coutière 1909: 64, fig. 37; Balss 1914: 101; Balss 1916: 19; Holthuis 1951: 88, fig. 18; Rossignol 1962: 131; Crosnier & Forest 1965: 607; Crosnier & Forest 1966: 287, fig. 27.

Not Synalpheus laevimanus var. parfaiti — Rathbun 1901: 110 (partim).

Material examined. São Tomé: 1 male, 1 ov. female, MNHN-IU-2010-4150, Ilha das Cabras , off sandy beach near lighthouse, ~ 2 m, coarse sand and rubble, rock crevices with cryptic sponges, coll. A. Anker, 08.02.2006 [fcn 06- 182*, 06-183*] ; 1 male, OUMNH. ZC.2011-07-065, Ilha Santana , rock crevices, 15–20 m, coll. N. Knowlton, F. Nunes, 09.02.2006 [fcn 06-211*] .

Description. For original description see Coutière (1898); for more detailed description and illustrations see Holthuis (1951) and Crosnier & Forest (1966).

Size range. Males, 3.3, 3.6 mm cl; female, 4.3 mm cl.

Colour in life. Pale yellow, semitransparent, chelae pale orange, darker distally; eggs greenish ( Fig. 42 ).

Type locality. Annobón, Equatorial Guinea .

Distribution. Eastern Atlantic: Senegal; Guinea; Ghana; Cameroon; Gabon; Equatorial Guinea [ Annobón]; São Tomé and Principe ( Holthuis 1951; Crosnier & Forest 1966; present study; see map in Fig. 52 ).

Ecology. Rocky reefs and associated hard bottom habitats; depth range: lower intertidal to at least 75 m ( Crosnier & Forest 1966); specimens are usually extracted from crevices of rocks, corals and coral rubble, and crusts of coralline algae ( Crosnier & Forest 1966); however, they most probably associated with small cryptic sponges lining these crevices (A. Anker, pers. obs.); typically in heterosexual pairs.

Remarks. Synalpheus parfaiti is the only species of the S. gambarelloides species group presently known from the tropical eastern Atlantic ( Senegal to Gulf of Guinea, see map in Fig. 53). The only other species of this group in the eastern Atlantic is S. gambarelloides ( Nardo, 1847) , which is distributed much further to the north, ranging from the Atlantic coast of southern Portugal to the eastern Mediterranean Sea (including Gibraltar, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Israel, map in Fig. 53). Thus, there seem to be no geographic overlap between these two species.

Figures

FIGURE 42. Synalpheus parfaiti Coutière, 1898: male and ovigerous female from São Tomé (MNHN-IU-2010-4150), on black (a) and white (b) backgrounds. Photographs by A. Anker.

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).