Leptalpheus pacificus Banner & Banner, 1975

Scioli, Justin A., Robles, Rafael & Felder, Darryl L., 2024, New species and records of the symbiotic shrimp genus Leptalpheus Williams, 1965, with notes on Fenneralpheus Felder & Manning, 1986, and preliminary molecular analysis of phylogenetic relationships (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae), Zootaxa 5466 (1), pp. 1-72 : 56-57

Leptalpheus pacificus Banner & Banner, 1975

( Fig. 30a )

Leptalpheus pacificus Banner & Banner, 1974: 424 , fig. 1.— Robles, 2005: chapter 3, table 1.— Anker & Marin, 2009: 92, fig. 7c–h.— Anker, 2010: 36 , fig. 9.

? Leptalpheus pacificus .— Banner & Banner, 1983: 82, tables 3, 4.

Material examined. USA: 1 male (cl 5.9 mm), ULLZ 11807 [ USNM 1545903 ], Hawaii, Oahu , Honolulu, Hickham Harbor, coll. R.B. Manning, 06.02.1993 ; 1 male (cl 4.9 mm), 1 female (cl 4.6 mm), ULLZ 17706 [ USNM 1550289 ], Hawaii, Oahu, Honolulu, west end of Sand Island , coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 08.05.2003 ; 1 female (cl 4.6 mm), ULLZ 6040 [ USNM 1541285 ], same locality as previous, with Neocallichirus sp. (host catalog no. ULLZ 6039 [ USNM 1541284 ]), coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 08.05.2003 ; 1 female (cl 6.0 mm), ULLZ 18236 [ USNM 1706502 ], same locality as previous, coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 07.05.2003 ; 1 female (cl 7.0 mm), ULLZ 18235 [ USNM 1706501 ], Hawaii, Oahu, Paikō Peninsula lagoon, coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 06.05.2003 ; 1 male (cl 6.1 mm), 1 female (cl 5.8 mm), ULLZ 6038 [ USNM 1541283 ], same locality as previous, with Neocallichirus sp. (host catalog no. ULLZ 6037 [ USNM 1541282 ]), coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 06.05.2003 ; 1 female (cl 5.2 mm), ULLZ 6044 [ USNM 1541289 ], same locality as previous, with Neocallichirus sp. (host catalog no. ULLZ 6043 [ USNM 1541288 ]), coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 06.05.2003 ; 1 male (cl 8.8 mm), 1 female (cl 7.5 mm), ULLZ 6046 [ USNM 1541291 ], same locality as previous, with Neocallichirus sp. , coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 06.05.2003 ; 1 male (cl 5.9 mm), ULLZ 6048 [ USNM 1541293 ], same locality as previous, with Neocallichirus variabilis (host catalog no. ULLZ 6047 [ USNM 1541292 ]), coll. D.L. Felder & R. Robles, 06.05.2003 ; 1 ovigerous female (cl 7.7 mm), UF 12473 , Hawaii, Maui, Hekili Point , back reef, 0–1 m, coll. C. Pittman, 28.09.2007 . French Polynesia: 1 male (cl 6.1 mm), UF 16489 , Society Islands, Moorea, Motu Tiahura , sand flat with rubble, 0–1 m, coll. A. Anker & V. Ivanenko, 28.11.2008 ; 1 ovigerous female (cl 7.6 mm), UF 16503 , Society Islands, Moorea, Gump Reef , silty fringing reef in bay, sand flat with large rocks & corals, 0–2 m, coll. A. Anker, 20.11.2008 ; 1 female (cl 6.9 mm), UF 23744 , Society Islands, Moorea, Maharepa , back reef flat near shore, 0.5–1 m, coll. A. Anker, 27.10.2009 .

Description. See Banner & Banner (1974). Some inaccuracies in the figures of the original description are discussed in Anker & Marin (2009).

Color in life. Uniformly hyaline-white with yellowish tinge; yellow coloration strongest on antennules, carapace, uropods, and telson; eggs yellow-green ( Fig. 30a ; also see Banner & Banner 1974; Anker 2010: fig. 9).

Type locality. Pearl Harbor , Oahu, Hawaii, USA .

Distribution. Eastern Indo-Pacific region: Hawaii, USA ( Banner & Banner 1974; Anker & Marin 2009; present study) and French Polynesia ( Anker 2010; present study). Also reported from Madagascar ( Banner & Banner 1983), however this record is questionable (see below).

Ecology. Obligate burrow cohabitant of callichirid ghost shrimps in the genus Neocallichirus : associated with Neocallichirus variabilis (Edmondson, 1944) in Hawaii.

Remarks. Prior to the present study, the host of L. pacificus was not known. The association of L. pacificus with Neocallichirus variabilis is notable as some specimens of the closely related L. denticulatus species complex have been reported in association with its congener, N. calmani by Anker & Marin (2009). It is also noteworthy that the separation of Oahu populations of the host species N. variabilis from the widespread Indo-West Pacific species N. jousseaumei ( Nobili, 1904) , while maintained by Dworschak (2011), was not supported in molecular phylogenetic analyses by Robles et al. (2020).

The specimen of L. pacificus from Madagascar reported by Banner & Banner (1983) should be regarded with caution. Efforts to locate this specimen in the MNHN failed, and it may be lost ( Anker et al. 2006b). The remarks included with this record mention that the proportions of this specimen differed somewhat from the type, and it cannot be ruled out that it may instead represent the morphologically similar L. dworschaki , a member of the L. denticulatus species complex, or a presently undescribed related species.

Figures

FIGURE 30. Color patterns of Leptalpheus pacificus Banner & Banner, 1975 and Leptalpheus pereirai Anker & Vera Caripe, 2016. Leptalpheus pacificus: a, female (cl 6.0 mm), ULLZ 18236 [USNM 1706502], from Oahu, Hawaii, lateral. Leptalpheus pereirai: b, ovigerous female (cl 7.5 mm), UF 51705, from Bocas del Toro, Panama, lateral; c, same, dorsal; d, same, close-up of major chela, lateral. Photographs by the third author (a) and Paulo P.G. Pachelle (b–d).