Cocorchestia margaritae (Stephensen, 1948) comb. nov.

(Fig. 4)

Talorchestia margaritae Stephensen, 1948: 7, figs 1, 2, Table 2.— Ruffo, 1950: 50.— Galan, 1984: 137 (PhD thesis).— Könemann, 1997:10.— Barrios & Lemus, 2000: 139.— Martin & Diaz, 2003: 339.— Ruffo & Krapp-Schickel, 2005: 37.— Martin et al., 2013: 1716.

Non-Taxonomic Citations

Talorchestia margaritae .— Blanco, 1980: 44 pp. (biology, thesis).— Venables, 1981a: 89 (physiology).— Venables, 1981b: 182 (growth).— Venables, 1981c: 271 (population dynamics).— Correa, 1985: 11 (caloric content).— Sánchez, 1985: 51 pp (biology, thesis).— Dias & Sprung, 2003: 1137 (population dynamics).— Huck, Martin & Miloslavich, 2007: 3, 4, fig. 1, 5, table 1, figs 2, 3 (protein content).— López et al., 2010: 841, 844, table 1, 846, table 2, (ecology).— Wildish et al., 2011: 1249, table 3.

Types. Holotype, male, 12 mm. Paratypes, 2 males, 1 female, ZMUC .

Type locality. Patio of Hotel Central, Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela, under stones in the patio about 60 m from the sandy sea shore .

Ecological type. Beach-hoppers.

Habitat. Living at the back of sandy beaches.

Diagnosis (male). Based on Stephensen (1948).

Gnathopod 2 propodus palm without proximal sinus, with large distal sinus; with proximal spine defining palm. Pereopod 7 not incrassate. Telson with 7–8 robust setae per lobe.

Remarks. Platorchestia margaritae differs from the other species in the genus in having a large spine defining the proximal margin of the palm of male gnathopod 2.

Venables (1981 a –c) describes aspects of the physiology and ecology of the species. Martin & Diaz (2003) reported it as common on sandy beaches in Anzoátegui, Nueva Esparta and Sucre, Venezuela.

Distribution. Venezuela. Margarita Island (Stephensen 1948): Cumaná (Venables 1981 a –c).