Palaemonella rotumana ( Borradaile, 1898 )

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 : 18

Palaemonella rotumana ( Borradaile, 1898)

Periclimenes (Falciger) rotumanus Borradaile, 1898: 383 .

Palaemonella vestigialis Kemp, 1922: 123 –126, Figures 1–2, pl. 3, figure 2. Palaemonella rotumana — Bruce, 1970: 276 –279, pl. 1 e–f.

Material examined. (1), 12 spms, MAP­060, ST­016, 12 ° 40.264 ’N 53 ° 27.204 ’E, SW of Qualansiyah, NW­coast, 5–7m, 8 March 1999, SMF 20202 . (2) 1 spm, MAP­061, ST 0 16, 12° 40.264 ’N 53 ° 27.204 ’E, SW of Qualansiyah, NW­coast, 5–7 m, 8 March 1999, NHCY. (3) 1 ovig. Ψ, MAP­ 125, ST­063A, 12 ° 38.9 ’N 53 °56.0’E, Qadub, W of Hadibo, N coast, 6–8 m, 18 March 1999, NHCY (4) 1 spm, MAP­ 136, ST­067, 12 ° 40.429 ’N 54 ° 11.731 ’E, Rhyi di Hamri, N coast, 7–9 m, 19 March 1999, NHCY. (5) 2 spms, MAP­ 137, stn 0 67, Rhyi di Hamri, E of Hawlaf, 7 –8, 19 March 1999, SMF 29203 . (6) 6 spms (4 ovig. Ψ), MAP­ 151, ST­092, 12 ° 40.519 ’N 54 °04.170’E, Hawlaf Bay, E. of Hadibo, N coast, 4–5 m, 21 March 1999, SMF 29204 . (7) 1 spm, MAP­ 154, ST­093, 12 ° 40.519 ’N 54 °04.170’E, Hawlaf Bay, E. of Hadibo, N coast, 9 –10, 21 March 1999, NHCY. (7 A) 1 ɗ, 1 ovig. Ψ, MAP­ 158, ST­095, 12 ° 40.156 ’N 54 °02.850’E, Shanitan, E of Hadibo, N coast, 8 m, 22 ­ 3­ 99, SMF 29205 . (8) 1 spm, MAP­ 226, ST­129, 12° 21.280 ’N 53 ° 32.614 ’E, Quatanhan Bay, SW­coast, 10–11 m, 31 March 1999, SMF 29206 .

Habitats: (1), dead coral; (2), dead Pocillopora ; (3); Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus; (5), Pocillopora sp.; (6, 7),dead Acropora ; (8),. Galaxea astreata (Lamarck) ( Scleractinia ).

Regional records: Previously reported from Aden ( Bruce, 1971) and the Maldive Islands ( Bruce, 1976 a).

General distribution: Type locality: Rotuma, Fijian Islands. Very common and widespread throughout the Indo­West Pacific region, from the northern Red Sea and Suez, to the Hawaiian Islands, and now extending into the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Remarks: Specimens (2) and (8) lacked all pereiopods except the first pair and so cannot be considered as identified with absolute certainty. In all discernible features they corresponded exactly with the other specimens so that there is probably little doubt over their identity. Apparently free­living, but often found in both dead and live corals.

The specimens (6) were smaller, with a particularly acute lateral tooth on the second pereiopod carpus, in comparison with the other specimens, and the mandibular palp in a dissected specimen consisted of two short subequal segments, unlike the elongated distal segment shown in Holthuis (1952, figure 3 A).