Synalpheus scaphoceris Coutiere 1910

Synalpheus scaphoceris Coutière, 1910 Material examined: Pernambuco — Continental Shelf off Recife: 1 M, 10.v.2018, 08°21′34.9′′S 34°41′53.3′′W, 50.8 m depth, in sponge, MOUFPE 21790; Brazil, Bahia —Porto Seguro: 1 M, Praia de Mutá, 25.ix.2011, associated with Millepora alcicornis Linnaeus, 1785, MOUFPE 21865. Description: Dardeau (1984) and Anker et al. (2012). Distribution: Bermuda, USA (Florida), Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Brazil (from Pernambuco to São Paulo) (Pequegnat & Ray 1974; Dardeau 1986; Duffy 1992; Christoffersen 1998; Anker et al. 2012). Ecology: Shallow coral reefs and adjacent areas; coral and rock cavities, mangroves with perforated trunks, on the coral M. alcicornis; in heterosexual pairs; shallow waters to 50.8 m (Schmitt 1924; Dardeau 1986; Anker et al. 2012; Santos et al. 2012). Sampled in association with sponge (this study). Remarks: Synalpheus scaphoceris is one of the most common species found on coral reefs in the Caribbean, but it is rarely encountered along the Brazilian coast (Anker et al. 2012). The species can be differentiated from the morphologically similar S. townsendi by presenting several red chromatophores distributed across its body (see Anker et al. 2012, fig. 44) (vs. restricted to the region between the eyes in S. townsendi; see Anker et al. 2012, fig. 46), by the ventral process of the rostrum being strongly produced (see Dardeau 1986, fig. 3C) (vs. short in S. townsendi; see Hermoso-Salazar et al. 2005, fig. 1B), by the absence of a distodorsal tooth on the major chela (see Dardeau 1986, fig. 2G) (vs. major chela with a strong, sharp, distodorsal tooth in S. townsendi) (Dardeau 1986; Hermoso-Salazar et al. 2005; Anker et al. 2012). The present study extends the bathymetric distribution of the species from 20 (Anker et al. 2012) to 50.8 m, and provides the first record of association of. S. scaphoceris with a sponge.