Synalpheus anasimus Chace, 1972

Anker, Arthur, Pachelle, Paulo P. G., Grave, Sammy De & Hultgren, Kristin M., 2012, 3598, Zootaxa 3598 (1), pp. 1-96 : 14-16

Synalpheus anasimus Chace, 1972

(Figs 7, 8)

Synalpheus anasimus Chace 1972: 82 , figs 25–28; Dardeau 1984: 17; Duffy 1992: 131; Martínez-Iglesias et al. 1996: 35; Morrison et al. 2004: 12 (Appendix A); McClure 2005: 168, fig. 33.

? Synalpheus aff. anasimus — Hernández Aguilera et al. 1996: 35.

Synalpheus anasimanus (lap. cal.)— Banner & Banner 1975: 274.

Zuzalpheus anasimus — Ríos & Duffy 2007: 79.

Material examined. St. Martin: 1 male, FLMNH UF 31975 , Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, sta. 28, Pinel Island , in crevices of coral rubble, 0.5–1 m, coll. A. Anker [fcn BSTM-0493*] .

Description. For detailed description and illustrations see Chace (1972); diagnostic features of the St. Martin specimen are illustrated in Fig. 7.

Size range. Male from St. Martin cl 4.4 mm; male holotype, cl 2.2 mm; ovigerous females, cl 3.2 mm ( Chace 1972) .

Colour in life. Mostly semitransparent, major chela amber-orange distally (Fig. 8).

Type locality. Bahía de la Ascensión, Mexico .

Distribution. Western Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico: Mexico [Puerto Morelo]; Caribbean Sea: Mexico [Bahía de la Ascensión, Bahía del Espíritu Santo], Cuba, Panama, St. Martin ( Chace 1972; Duffy 1992; Martínez-Iglesias et al. 1996; McClure 2005; present study; see map in Fig. 51 ).

Ecology. The St. Martin specimen was found in crevices of coral rubble in very shallow water (less than 1 m). Some type specimens (females) came from the “upper portions of much eroded coral standing in 10 feet [~ 3 m] of water” ( Chace 1972) .

Remarks. Chace (1972) noticed some morphological variation in the Yucatan material of S. anasimus . The non-type ovigerous females differ from the male holotype in the presence of five (instead of four) articles in the carpus of the second pereiopods, longer antennular peduncles, and a longer and somewhat differently shaped scaphocerite. The male holotype also has a distinctly more appressed stylocerite, which is distinctly separated from the lateral margin of the first article in females. These differences led Chace (1972) to report the two ovigerous females as “ Synalpheus anasimus ?”

In the single male from St. Martin, the stylocerite surpasses the distal margin of the first peduncular article (Fig. 7a); the carpus of the second pereiopod has five articles (Fig. 7c, as in the ovigerous female from Yucatan); the rostrum is as wide as and slightly longer than the orbital teeth (Fig. 7a); the minor chela carpus is slightly longer than in the holotype or the ovigerous female and with the fingertips strongly bidentate; the scaphocerite blade is slender and reaching half-length of the scaphocerite (Fig. 7a, more like in the ovigerous female); the telson has four dorsal spiniform setae both situated in its anterior half (Fig. 7d), and the uropodal exopod has two distolateral teeth (Fig. 7e) vs. one tooth in the holotype and one or two teeth in the ovigerous female. The major cheliped of the St. Martin male (Fig. 7b) is remarkably similar in general shape and proportions to that of the holotype of S. anasimus . Thus, the St. Martin specimen clearly falls within the range of variation reported for S. anasimus by Chace (1972), extending its geographic range to the extreme northeastern Caribbean Sea. However, it remains unclear whether S. anasimus is a single, morphologically variable species (the 2.2 mm cl holotype may be an immature male) or comprises more than one taxon. More material from throughout its range is needed to investigate this problem both morphologically and genetically.

Figures

FIGURE 51. Presently known geographic ranges of Synalpheus africanus Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. cf. africanus (eastern and western Atlantic); S. agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979; S. anasimus Chace, 1972; S. antillensis Coutière, 1909; S. apioceros Coutière, 1909; S. bocas Anker & Tóth, 2008; S. bousfieldi Chace, 1972; S. brooksi Coutière, 1909; S. carpenteri Macdonald & Duffy, 2006; S. chacei Duffy, 1998; S. congoensis Crosnier & Forest, 1965; S. dardeaui (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. dominicensis Armstrong, 1949; S. elizabethae (Ríos & Duffy, 2007); S. filidigitus Armstrong, 1949; S. fritzmuelleri Coutière, 1909; S. goodei