Megalobrachium lemaitrei Ferreira & Tavares, 2016

Ferreira, Luciane Augusto De Azevedo & Anker, Arthur, 2021, An annotated and illustrated checklist of the porcelain crabs of Panama (Decapoda: Anomura), Zootaxa 5045 (1), pp. 1-154 : 26

Megalobrachium lemaitrei Ferreira & Tavares, 2016

Megalobrachium erosum . — Gore & Abele 1976: 16, 17; Gore 1982: 5, fig. 2 [not Megalobrachium erosum ( Glassell, 1936) ]. Megalobrachium lemaitrei Ferreira & Tavares 2016: 3 , figs. 2A–G, 3D–F, 4D–F, 5C, D; Hiller & Lessios 2019: 414, fig. 1g.

Material examined. Panama [Pacific]: 1 male, cl 5.1, cw 5.3 ( FLMNH UF 57118 ), Las Perlas Is ., Isla Saboga , 8°37’42.4”N, 79°03’24.4”W, lower intertidal, under coral, leg. P.P.G. Pachelle & M. Leray, 20.03.2019 (fcn PP 19-027) .

Previous records from Panama. Gore & Abele (1976, as M. erosum ( Glassell, 1936)) ; Gore (1982, as M. erosum ); Ferreira & Tavares (2016).

Distribution. East Pacific: Panama ( Isla Venao = formerly Isla Venado, Panama Canal area, Las Perlas Is.), Costa Rica and Colombia ( Ferreira & Tavares 2016; Hiller & Lessios 2019).

Ecology. Rock-sand intertidal and shallow subtidal, known depth range: 0–18 m; under rocks or in crevices of rocks, corals and coral rubble ( Ferreira & Tavares 2016; present study).

Remarks. Megalobrachium lemaitrei is morphologically very similar to M. erosum , a species distributed further north in the tropical eastern Pacific, for instance in the eroded appearance of the carapace and P1. However, M. lemaitrei can be distinguished from M. erosum by some details in the ornamentation of the carapace and P1, as well as setation of P2–P4 ( Ferreira & Tavares 2016). All Panamanian records of M. erosum ( Gore & Abele 1976; Gore 1982) were attributed to M. lemaitrei by Ferreira & Tavares (2016). A colour photograph of M. lemaitrei was published by Hiller & Lessios (2019).