Periclimenes imperator Bruce, 1967

Bruce, A. J., 2006, Pontoniine shrimps (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) from the island of Socotra, with descriptions of new species of Dactylonia Fransen, 2002 and Periclimenoides Bruce, 1990, Zootaxa 1137, pp. 1-36 : 21

Periclimenes imperator Bruce, 1967

Periclimenes imperator Bruce, 1967: 53 –62, figures. 23–25.

Periclimenes imperator . — Fransen & Goud, 2000: 273 –283, figures 1–4.:

Material examined. 3 juv., MAP­202, ST­119, 12°42.434’N 53°37.605’E, off Madinah, N coast, 17–18 m, 29 March 1999, 2 spms SMF 29213, 1 spm NHCY.

Host: Unidentified holothurian (Holothuria, Echinodermata).

Regional records: Not previously reported in the north western Indian Ocean.

General distribution: Type locality:: Chumbe Island, Zanzibar. Found on Indo­West Pacific coral reefs from the northern Red Sea to the Hawaiian Islands in association with nudibranchs and holothurians.

Remarks: Associated with a variety of holothurian genera as adults and also with a variety of nudibranch hosts, often as juveniles. The specimens are morphologically typical of this species. A wide variety of colour patterns exist in life in this species, mainly variations of red and yellow/white, which suggests that a complex of sibling species may exist, one of which may be Periclimenes rex Kemp 1922 , with separate host associations.