Lysmata vittata ( Stimpson, 1860 )

Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Leray, Matthieu, Anker, Arthur & Lasley, Robert, 2018, Five new records of marine shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea, Stenopodidea) from the Caribbean coast of Panama, Zootaxa 4438 (1), pp. 128-136 : 129-130

Lysmata vittata ( Stimpson, 1860)

( Figure 1 )

Material examined. Panama, Bocas del Toro: 1 hermaphrodite (cl 2.5 mm), FLMNH UF 46701 , Almirante, Saigon Bay, lat. 9.346757 / long. -82.257151, epibiont growth on mangrove roots, coll. R. Lasley, 26.v.2017 ; 4 hermaphrodites (cl 2.0–3.0 mm), FLMNH UF 46700, Almirante, lat. 9.295808 / long. -82.346302, epibiont growth on mangrove roots, coll. R. Lasley, 30.v.2017; 23 hermaphrodites (cl 2.0–6.0 mm), 6 ovigerous hermaphrodites (cl 6.0–7.0 mm), FLMNH UF 46699 same collection data as for previous lot; 1 ovigerous hermaphrodite (cl 6.0 mm), FLMNH UF 46698, same collection data as previous lot.

Remarks. Despite the fact that Lysmata vittata is considered to be a common shallow-water shrimp known from across the Indo-West Pacific ( Chace 1997; Ahyong 2010; Marin et al. 2012; Anker & De Grave 2016), it is known with absolute certainty only from its type locality in Hong Kong (see redescription by Bruce 1990). Recently, L. vittata was considered to be a senior synonym of L. rauli Laubenheimer & Rhyne, 2010 , a species described from Brazil ( Soledade et al. 2013), possibly a premature decision (see below). The Panamanian material agrees reasonably well with the description and illustrations of L. rauli in Laubenheimer & Rhyne (2010, including the colouration shown in their fig. 3) , as well as the colour photographs of a Brazilian specimen in Soledade et al. (2013: fig. 2c) and Singaporean individuals in Anker & De Grave (2016: figs. 67, 68). On the other hand, it differs in some aspects from the colour pattern of the Russian specimens identified as L. vittata by Marin et al. (2012: fig. 3). It seems rather unlikely that the geographically widely separated Indo-Pacific material, ranging from temperatecool waters of the Far-East Russia to the tropical waters of Singapore, can be referred to the same biological species. However, only a comprehensive taxonomic revision of L. vittata integrating DNA data, colour patterns and morphology will resolve this problem, as well as shed some light on the identity of the material of L. vittata from the Atlantic ( Brazil and Caribbean coast of Panama). For the time being, the Panamanian material is tentatively assigned to L. vittata , representing, rather surprisingly, the first record of this species in the Caribbean Sea. The fact that such a common shallow-water shrimp has not been previously recorded from such a relatively well-studied area suggests either a recent and very quick invasion or a secondary range expansion from a less-studied area in the Caribbean or from Brazil. Interestingly, similar taxonomic problems, i.e. recently collected western Atlantic material awaiting taxonomic confirmation, exist for two other species of Lysmata . For instance, L. hochi Baeza & Anker, 2008 , although genetically distinct from L. kuekenthali ( De Man, 1902) , has not been genetically compared with L. uncicornis Holthuis & Maurin, 1952 due to the paucity of recent material of that species; whilst the status of the Brazilian material reported as L. lipkei Okuno & Fiedler, 2010 by Pachelle et al. (2016) also remains uncertain.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lysmata vittata (Stimpson, 1860): ovigerous hermaphrodite (cl 6.0 mm) from Almirante, Bocas del Toro, Panama (FLMNH UF 46698), in dorsal (A) and lateral (B) views. Photographs by Robert Lasley.