Synalpheus scaphoceris Coutière, 1910

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 66-68

Synalpheus scaphoceris Coutière, 1910

( Fig. 44 )

Synalpheus townsendi scaphoceris Coutière 1910: 486 , fig. 2; Schmitt 1924b: 66; Schmitt 1930: 344; Schmitt 1935: 152; Chace 1956: 148; Christoffersen 1979: 355.

Synalpheus scaphoceris — Dardeau 1984: 109, 111; Dardeau, 1986: 491, figs 1–3; Duffy 1992: 131; Christoffersen 1998: 363; McClure 2005: 189, fig. 57.

? Synalpheus townsendi — Pequegnat & Ray 1974: 249, fig. 55 a, b (partim), not fig. 53 d (not S. townsendi Coutière, 1909 ).

Material examined. Panama: 1 ov. female, MNHN-IU-2010-4152, Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, near Bocas town, coral rocks, 0.5–1.5 m, coll. A. Anker, 17.10.2005 [fcn 05-033]; 1 male, MNHN-IU-2010-4153, Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, between Big Creek and Playa Bluff, coral rocks, 0.5–1 m, coll. A. Anker, 18.10.2005 [fcn 05-039B]; 1 ov. female, RMNH D54860 , Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, Boca del Drago, coral rocks, 0.5–1 m, coll. A. Anker, 20.10.2005 [fcn 05-057]; 1 ov. female, RMNH D54861, same collection data [fcn 05-062C]; 1 ov. female, UP, Bocas del Toro, Cayo Solarte , Hospital Point, coral rubble, coll. C. Hurt, 10.09.2006 [fcn 06-471]; 1 male, 1 ov .

female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-057, Bocas del Toro , Isla Colón, Boca del Drago, coral rocks, 0.5–2 m, coll. A. Anker, J.A. Vera Caripe, 11.11.2006 [fcn 06-547*]; 1 ov. female, MNHN-IU-2010-4154, same collection data [fcn 06-551*]; 1 male, MNHN-IU-2010-4155, same collection data [fcn 06-552*]; 1 male, RMNH D54862, same collection data [fcn 06-553*]; 1 ov. female, RMNH D54863, Bocas del Toro , Isla Bastimentos, near Bastimentos village, mangroves, holes in sunken wood, ~ 0.5 m, coll. A. Anker, J.A. Vera Caripe, J.A. Baeza, 18.11.2006 [fcn 06- 608*]; 1 male, 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-063, La Guaira , coral rocks, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, J.A. Baeza ,

04.08.2007 [fcn 07-219]; 1 male, 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-055/2012-07-064, Bocas del Toro, Cayo Solarte, Hospital Point , coral rocks and sponges, coll. A. Anker et al. (shrimp taxonomy class), 04.08.2008 [fcn 08- 225B, 08-225C]; 1 ov. female, UP, Isla Grande , Playa de la Punta, coral rocks, 1–2 m, coll. A. Anker, C. Hurt , 06.10.2005 [fcn 05-046B]; 1 ov. female, 1 female, UP , same collection data [fcn 05-050B]; 1 ov. female, UP , same collection data [fcn 05-054]; 1 male, 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-056, Portobelo , coral rocks, less than 1.5 m, coll. A. Anker, J.A. Baeza , 04.08.2007 [fcn 07-232*]. Honduras: 1 male, 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07- 139, Utila, in front of Coral View Hotel , 1605.326’N 08654.652’W, rubble flat, under rocks, 1 m, coll. A.Anker, S. De Grave , 08.07.2007 [fcn H228]; 1 ov. female, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-140, Utila , 1605.458’N 08654.533’W, rubble, 1 m, coll. A. Anker, S. De Grave , 03.07.2007 [fcn H114]. Aruba: 1 male, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-061, Pos Chiquito , coral rocks, 0.5–1 m, coll. A. Anker , 07- 08.12.2003 [fcn 03-007]. St. Martin: 1 female, FLMNH UF 32514 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 62, Caye Verte , coral rubble, 3–5 m, coll. G. Paulay et al., 25.04.2012 [fcn BSTM-1726*]; 1 ov. female, FLMNH UF 32219 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 39, off Rocher Créole , 3–5 m, coral rubble, coll. A. Anker, J.F. Maréchal , 18.04.2012 [fcn BSTM-0998*]. USA: 1 male, 3 ov. females, OUMNH. ZC.2012-07-058/060, Florida, Fort Pierce , 5–10 m, coll. J.A. Baeza , 2009 [fcn 11-075, 11-076, 11-077, 11-078]. Bermuda: 1 male, NHM, coll. R. Gurney, no further collection data .

Diagnosis. For original description see Coutière (1910); for detailed redescription and illustrations see Dardeau (1986).

Size range. Males, 3.5–5.7 mm cl; females, 3.6–8.0 mm cl; two ovigerous females from Fort Pierce, Florida, conspicuously larger than the Caribbean specimens.

Colour in life. Body semitransparent speckled with numerous large, bright red chromatophores, more uniform red when chromatophores fully expanded; major chela almost entirely covered with red chromatophores, fingers greenish; ovaries or fresh eggs olive-green ( Fig. 44 ).

Type locality. Dry Tortugas, Florida .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: Florida [Fort Pierce, Florida Keys, Dry Tortugas]; Bermuda; Gulf of Mexico: West Flower Garden Bank, Mexico; Caribbean Sea: e.g., Panama [Isla Grande, Bocas del Toro], Honduras [Utila], Aruba, Puerto Rico, St. Martin; Brazil: Pernambuco to São Paulo ( Pequegnat & Ray 1974; Dardeau 1986; Duffy 1992; Christoffersen 1998; present study; see map in Fig. 52 ).

Ecology. Shallow coral reef and adjacent rubble habitats; typical depth range 0.5–20 m (most of the Panamanian specimens collected in 0.5–2 m deep water); usually in crevices of dead and living hermatypic corals, e.g., Madracis decactis and Porites spp. , occasionally also in rock crevices and shipworm-perforated mangrove wood ( Schmitt 1924b; Dardeau 1986; present study); typically in heterosexual pairs.

Remarks. Synalpheus scaphoceris is one of the most ubiquitous species of Synalpheus on shallow coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent areas of the Gulf of Mexico and southern Florida, however, being less common in Bermuda (new record) and along the Brazilian coast. In the western Atlantic, S. scaphoceris can be distinguished from the other crevice-dwelling species of the genus by the lanceolate shape of the rostrum and the ventrally projecting ventro-rostral process ( Dardeau 1986). In some specimens, such as one female from St. Martin (FLMNH UF 32514), the rostrum is longer and more slender than in typical specimens, approaching the condition found in S. fritzmuelleri . The overall red colour pattern of S. scaphoceris is generally similar to those of S. fritzmuelleri and S. dominicensis . However, S. fritzmuelleri has a mostly non-spotted, greenish-bluish major chela (figs 26, 27), whereas S. dominicensis has a more uniform, non-spotted deep wine-red colour ( Fig. 23 ), both differing from the bright red spots, including on the major chela palm, of S. scaphoceris ( Fig. 44 ).

Figures

FIGURE 23. Synalpheus dardeaui (Ríos & Duffy, 2007): a, b, two males from Bocas del Toro, Panama (MNHN-IU-2010- 4124), with host sponge, Lissodendoryx colombiensis; c, male from the same locality (MNHN-IU-2010-4123), d, e, ovigerous female from the same locality (RMNH D54885), in dorsal view (d) and with host sponge, Xestospongia sp., possibly X. rosariensis (e). Photographs by A. Anker.

FIGURE 44. Synalpheus scaphoceris Coutière, 1910: a, male from St. Martin (FLMNH UF 32514); b, c, d, three ovigerous females from Bocas del Toro (MNHN-IU-2010-4152, RMNH D54860, RMNH D54861). 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).