New findings of rare or little-known alpheid shrimp genera (Crustacea, Decapoda) in Moorea, French Polynesia
Author
Anker, Arthur
text
Zootaxa
2010
2403
23
41
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.194125
6ae8ac53-d51b-4bdc-b3c9-856e0a3ef8a0
1175-5326
194125
Leptalpheus denticulatus
Anker & Marin, 2009
Figure 10
Leptalpheus denticulatus
Anker & Marin 2009
: 92
, figs. 1–6, 7a, b, 8.
Material examined
.
French
Polynesia
, Society Islands. 1 ovigerous female (CL
8.90 mm
),
FLMNH
UF Arthropoda 16463, Moorea, lagoon near Nihimaru River estuary, near-shore sand flat with some rocks, algae, holothurians (
Holothuria atra
) from burrow, suction pump, depth:
0.5–1 m
, coll. A. Anker,
17.XI.2008
[fcn BMOO-5519];
1 female
(CL
4.60 mm
),
FLMNH
UF Arthropoda 16528, Moorea, lagoon, between Papetoai and Hotel Intercontinental, near-shore sand flat with intense burrowing activity, silt and sand, mounds, holothurians (
Holothuria atra
), from burrow, suction pump, depth:
0.3–0.6 m
, coll. A. Anker,
23.XI.2008
[fcn BMOO-5636]; ovigerous female (CL
5.40 mm
),
FLMNH
UF Arthropoda 16532, same collection data as for previous specimen, fcn 5641;
1 male
(CL
4.90 mm
),
1 female
(CL 7.00 mm),
1 juvenile
(CL not determined),
FLMNH
UF Arthropoda 16526, same collection data as for previous specimens [
BMOO
fcn 5634, 5635, 5633].
Description
. See
Anker & Marin (2009)
.
Colour pattern
. Uniform pinkish, speckled with reddish chromatophores (
Fig. 10
), more intense on antennular peduncles and tail fan (
Fig. 10
C, D), and in large individuals forming diffuse bands on abdomen (
Fig. 10
A, B; see also
Anker & Marin 2009
, fig. 8); walking legs mostly colourless, major chela hyalinewhitish, with a few red chromatophores on palm (
Fig. 10
F).
Type
locality
. Nhatrang Bay,
Vietnam
.
Ecology
. All Moorea specimens were collected on shallow near-shore sand flats, at depths ranging from
0.3 to 1 m
, from burrows of unknown, presumably callianassid, hosts.
Distribution
. Nhatrang,
Vietnam
; Panglao, the
Philippines
;
Viti
Levu,
Fiji
(
Anker & Marin 2009
); the present report extends its range eastwards to Moorea,
French
Polynesia
.
Remarks
. Moorea is presently the only locality where
L. denticulatus
is known to occur sympatrically with
L. pacificus
. These two species are very closely related (
Anker & Marin 2009
), but as mentioned above,
L. denticulatus
may be distinguished from
L. pacificus
by the presence of a small tooth on the mesial emargination of the uropodal diaeresis (cf.
Fig. 9
D, 10E) and the presence of numerous red chromatophores that are evenly scattered over the body and together provide a uniform pinkish-reddish colour, more intense on the antennular peduncles (
Figs. 9
A–C, 10A–C). Interestingly, all specimens of
L. denticulatus
were collected from burrows near a small estuary or in very shallow silt-covered parts of the inshore lagoon, whereas
L. pacificus
was collected from burrows in fine white sand at some distance from the main coast, for instance near the Motu Tiahura – Moorea channel, where water is cleaner and more dynamic, indicating a possible ecological niche separation between these two species.