Pseudosquillisma kensleyi Ahyong, 2005

Brokensha, Rouane, Landschoff, Jannes & Griffiths, Charles, 2025, Taxonomic guide to the mantis shrimps (Crustacea: Stomatopoda) of South Africa, Zootaxa 5713 (1), pp. 1-93 : 36

Pseudosquillisma kensleyi Ahyong, 2005

( Fig. 14 )

Pseudosquillisma kensleyi Ahyong, 2005: 160–162 , fig. 1. [ Type locality Sodwana Bay, South Africa].— Ahyong, 2014: 251.

Material examined. KZN: SAMC-A015617 , 1 ♂ (TL 30 mm), Hully Point, 25.5 km north of Sodwana Bay, 27°19’59.9”S 32°45’00.0”E, 21 Jan 1976, Rotenone Station , depth unknown, RW 11, coll . R. Winterbottom.

Diagnosis (after Ahyong 2005). Cornea subglobular, strongly inflated, expanded dorsally and laterally. Carapace with pair of dark circular ‘eyespots’ at most with indistinct pale outline. AS 1–3 posterolaterally rounded. AS 4 blunt but angular. AS 5 with posterolateral spine. Uropodal protopod with distinct step on inner proximal margin; exopod proximal segment outer margin with 11 movable spines.

Colour in alcohol. Overall dorsal body described in original description as faded to uniform grey-brown. Carapace with pair of dark brown, circular ‘eyespots’, at most with indistinct pale outline. Raptorial claw merus and propodus grey-brown; dactylus bleached pale. Posterolateral margin of AS 5 and posterior margin of AS 6 with dark spots of maroon. Telson and uropods with scattered maroon colouration. Colour in life unknown.

Measurements of holotype ( Ahyong 2005). TL 30 mm. CL 6.4 mm. Cornea width 2.1 mm.A1 peduncle length 3.8 mm. A2 scale length 2.8 mm. AS 5 width 4.8 mm.

Distribution. South Africa. Only known from the type locality of Hully Point, just north of Sodwana Bay, KZN.

Remarks. Pseudosquillisma kensleyi is known only from a single specimen collected from Hully Point, near Sodwana Bay, KZN, and at present is considered endemic to South Africa. However, given this locality, it is most likely that the species occurs at least in the Mozambican Channel. Pseudosquillisma kensleyi is distinguished by the size of its strongly inflated eyes being expanded both laterally and dorsally rather than laterally expanded and dorsally flattened, as in other species of Pseudosquillisma .

The type material in the Iziko collection was originally identified as Pseudosquillisma oculata , as both P. oculata and P. kensleyi share a similar colour pattern with the diagnostic pair of eye spots on the carapace surrounded, at most, by an indistinct pale ring. However, no live specimen or description of colour in life is available for P. kensleyi and thus the only colour description is based on already faded material. Unfortunately, no habitat description was given for the Hully Point collection site, but it is assumed that this species inhabits the coral reef systems around Sodwana Bay ( Ahyong 2005). A female of the species has yet to be recorded.

There have been accounts of P. oculata from Mauritius ( Barnard 1950) and Madagascar ( Manning 1970a), but the records give very little detail in terms of characteristic features and specimen comparisons. The observation of morphological heterogeneity among Indo-West Pacific, eastern and western Atlantic populations previously identified as P. oculata ( Manning, 1969b; Ahyong, 2001) lead to a revaluation of the distribution of the species. Ahyong (2014) described a new species P. tweediei Ahyong, 2014 , for specimens originally thought to be P. oculata in the Indo-West Pacific and is most easily distinguished by colour in life. The holotype of P. tweediei was collected from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean. It is suggested that P. oculata sensu stricto is restricted to the Atlantic Ocean, while the Indo-West Pacific form should be referred to as P. tweediei (see Ahyong 2014). Therefore, those documented occurrences of P. oculata from Mauritius and Madagascar can tentatively be considered to be P. tweediei .

Figures

FIGURE 14. Pseudosquillisma kensleyi Ahyong, 2005, holotype ♂ TL 30 mm, SAMC-A015617. A, raptorial claw, lateral; B, right antennal protopod, lateral; C–D, eye, lateral and dorsal; E, right pleopod 1 endopod, anterior; G, TS5–8, right lateral; H, AS2–5, right lateral; I, right uropod, ventral; J, AS5–6, left uropod and telson, dorsal. Scale A–D, G–J = 2 mm, E = 1 mm.