Synalpheus townsendi Coutière, 1909

Anker, Arthur, Tavares, Marcos & Mendonça, Joel B., 2016, Alpheid shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) of the Trindade & Martin Vaz Archipelago, off Brazil, with new records, description of a new species of Synalpheus and remarks on zoogeographical patterns in the oceanic islands of the tropical southern Atlantic, Zootaxa 4138 (1), pp. 1-58 : 38-39

Synalpheus townsendi Coutière, 1909

( Fig. 12 )

Synalpheus townsendi Coutière 1909: 32 (partim), fig. 14; Christoffersen 1979: 352; Abele & Kim 1986: 203, 226, 227, figs. f– h; Bezerra & Coelho 2006: 701; Alves et al. 2008: 50; Souza et al. 2011: 48; Anker et al. 2012: 70, figs. 45, 46; Soledade et al. 2015: 63.

[for more complete synonymy prior to 2012 see Anker et al. (2012)]

Material examined. Brazil: 1 male, MZUSP 30351, Trindade Island, Praia do Lixo, 20°31’29.8”S – 29°19’43.9”W, depth: 25 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 02.vii.2012; 1 male, MZUSP 33259, Trindade Island, Enseada Orelhas, 20°29’40.2”S – 29°20’32.9”W, depth: 12 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 01.xi.2014; 1 female, MZUSP 30300, Trindade Island, Praia dos Portugueses, Rampa Nova, 20°30’17.7”S – 29°18’56.7”W, depth: 11 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 11.vii.2012; 2 males, MZUSP 30261, Trindade Island, Enseada da Cachoeira, Praia do M, 20°30’26.5”S – 29°20’48.0”W, depth: 12 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 12.vii.2012; 1 female, MZUSP 30313, Trindade Island, Enseada da Cachoeira, Farrilhões, 20°31’22.4”S – 29°19’52.0”W, depth: 13.8 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 09.vii.2012; 1 female, MZUSP 33381, Trindade Island, Ponta Norte, 20°29’40.2”S – 29°20’32.9”W, depth: 11.5 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 01.iv.2014; 1 ovig. female, MZUSP 33269, Trindade Island, between Ponta da Crista do Galo and Ponta Norte, 20°29’14.8”S – 29°20’13.9”W, depth: 15 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 21.v.2014; 2 males, 4 (2 ovig.) females, MZUSP 30352, Trindade Island, Ilha da Racha, 20°30’26.5”S – 29°20’48.0”W, depth: 27.1 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 22.vi.2012; 1 female, MZUSP 30283, Trindade Island, large underwater boulder near Ponta Noroeste, 20°29’46.4”S – 29°20’35.4”W, depth: 11.6 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 04.vii.2012; 1 male, MZUSP 33311, Trindade Island, Enseada do Príncipe, Ilha Sul, 20°31’34.3”S – 29°19’27.9”W, depth: 17.6 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 06.xi.2014; 1 male, MZUSP 33268, same collection data; 1 ovig. female, MZUSP 33247, same collection data; 1 male, MZUSP 33268, Trindade Island, Enseada do Príncipe, Ilha Sul, 20°31’34.3”S – 29°19’27.9”W, depth: 17.6 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 06.xi.2014; 1 ovig. female, MZUSP 33247, Trindade Island, Enseada do Príncipe, Ilha Sul, 20°31’34.3”S – 29°19’27.9”W, depth: 17.6 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 06.xi.2014; 5 males, 3 ovig. females, 1 juvenile, MZUSP 34134, Martin Vaz Island, 20°28’28.4”S – 28°51’24.5”W, depth: 21.4 m, coll. J.B. Mendonça, 21.vi.2015. Size of largest male: cl 3.0 mm ( MZUSP 30351); largest female: cl 3.3 mm ( MZUSP 30352). Numerous additional specimens (not listed above) are deposited in MZUSP.

Description. See Coutière (1909) for original description and illustrations, and Anker et al. (2012) for additional figures and colour photographs (see also Fig. 12 ).

Distribution. Western Atlantic: North Carolina to Florida; Gulf of Mexico; throughout Caribbean Sea; Bermuda; Brazil: Ceará to Rio de Janeiro, Atol das Rocas , Abrolhos Islands, Trindade & Martin Vaz Archipelago (Anker et al. 2012 and references therein; Soledade et al. 2015; present study).

Ecology. Rocky shores and coral reefs with abundance of sponges, coral rubble and coralline algae; in rock crevices and sponges; intertidal to below 100 m.

Remarks. Synalpheus townsendi is a common and wide-ranging western Atlantic species, which is known from several Brazilian localities, including Atol das Rocas (Anker et al. 2012) and the Abrolhos Archipelago (Soledade et al. 2015). The species is reported for the first time from the Trindade & Martin Vaz Archipelago, representing the eastern-most record of the species.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Synalpheus townsendi Coutière, 1909: A, B — male from Ilha Sul, Trindade Island, Brazil (MZUSP 33268), A — dorsal view; B — lateral view; C, D — ovigerous female from Ilha Sul, Trindade Island, Brazil (MZUSP 33247), C — dorsal view; D — lateral view. Photographs by J. B. Mendonça.