Discias vernbergi Boothe & Heard, 1987

Olthof, Gabriël, Becking, Leontine E. & Fransen, Charles H. J. M., 2018, On a collection of deep-water shrimp (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the Dutch Caribbean, with the description of a new species of Pseudocoutierea, Zootaxa 4415 (3), pp. 533-548 : 535

Discias vernbergi Boothe & Heard, 1987

Discias vernbergi Boothe & Heard, 1987 : 506, figs. 1–3 [type locality: 65 nautical miles W of Egmont Key , Florida, 27°37’N 83°58’W, 55m]; Nizinski 2003: 102; Pachelle & De Grave 2015: 1473.

Material examined. RMNH. CRUS.D.57263: 2 females (pocl. 3.15mm and 2.05mm) and 1 male (pocl. 2.9mm), Bonaire, 12°04'47"N, 068°17'37"W, depth 217m, 1.vi.2013, dive with Curasub submersible BON4 /BDR059, in sponge Neopetrosia dutchi Van Soest, Meesters & Becking, 2014 , collected by L.E. Becking and H .W.G. Meesters. RMNH.CRUS.D.57264: 1 ovigerous female (pocl. 5.1mm), 7 females (pocl. 2.2 to 3.6mm), 8 males (pocl. 1.8 to 3.5mm), Bonaire, 12°04'47"N, 068°17'37"W, depth 246m, 31.v.2013, dive with Curasub submersible BON4 / BDR050, in sponge, collected by L.E. Becking and H .W.G. Meesters. RMNH.CRUS.D.57265: 1 male (pocl. 3.25mm), Bonaire, 12°08'13"N, 068°17'09"W, depth 159m, 31.v.2013, dive with Curasub submersible BON3, from hexactinellid sponge, collected by L.E. Becking and H.W.G. Meesters.

Distribution. Discias vernbergi is described from the east coast ( Georgia) and Gulf Coast (Florida) of the southeastern United States living at depths of 54 to 74 meters ( Boothe & Heard 1987). The present specimens were found at depths up to 246 meters in the Caribbean, significantly increasing the depth at which this species can be found.

Host. A host for the type specimens was not recorded. One of the specimens in the present collection was found in association with a hexactinellid sponge, the other in the neopetrosid species Neopetrosia dutchi Van Soest, Meesters & Becking, 2014 . Most species of Discias have been recorded from sponge hosts ( Bruce 1970, 1976; Kensley 1983; Pachelle & De Grave 2015). D. atlanticus has also been observed in the tubes of the parchment tubeworm Chaetopterus variopedatus (Renier, 1804) ( Criales & Lemaitre 1997).

Remarks. Discias vernbergi can be easily distinguished from the other species in the genus by the following characters: 1) the lanceolate shape of the rostrum with about 30 teeth laterally, 2) the absence of a posterior middorsal process on pleonal segment 2, 3) the presence of six pairs of cuspidate setae on the telson, 4) the presence of 4 to 9 fixed lateral teeth on the exopod of the uropod.

The largest specimen from the current collection is larger than the previously recorded pocl. range of 2.1 to 4.1mm: one ovigerous female is present with a pocl. of 5.1mm. The other specimens range between 2.2 to 3.6mm pocl. for non-ovigerous females, and 1.8 to 3.05mm pocl. for males. The large ovigerous female has a higher number of lateral teeth on the exopod of the uropod: 8–9 instead of the 4–6 lateral spines in smaller specimens.