FIRST RECORD OF APIOMITHRAX VIOLACEUS (A. MILNE-EDWARDS) (BRACHYURA: EPIALTIDAE: PISINAE) FROM THE CARIBBEAN

Abstract

Up to now, the sub-family Pisinae Dana, 1851 was represented in the Caribbean coasts of Venezuela by six species [Chorinus heros (Herbst, 1790); Libinia ferreirae Brito Capello, 1871; Herbstia depressa Stimpson, 1870; Sphenocarcinus corrosus A. Milne-Edwards, 1878; Pelia mutica (Gibbes, 1850) and Nibilia antilocapra (Stimpson, 1871)], which make up 38 % of the Pisinae crabs reported for the Caribbean Sea. During an examination of unidentified material from the crustacean collection of the Laboratory of Carcinology at Universidad de Oriente, Margarita Island, Venezuela, nine specimens (six males and three females) of Apiomithrax violaceus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1868) were discovered. Until now the distribution of this Pisinae species was known to range from Mauritania to Angola in the eastern Atlantic, Ascension Island in the central Atlantic, as well as Brazil and Orinoco Delta in the western Atlantic. All specimens were collected in Venezuelan waters, at the following locations: Margarita island: Playa Valdés, Península de Macanao, Boca Chica, El Maguey; Sucre State (mainland): Guayacán. This is the most northerly record of the species and it is the first time to be reported for the Caribbean Sea, increasing the number of known species of Pisinae to 17 in this area.