Lysmata intermedia Kingsley 1878

Lysmata intermedia (Kingsley, 1878)

(Figure 9)

Hippolysmata intermedia Kingsley 1878: 90.

Material examined. Brazil, Ceará: 1 hermaphrodite, LABOMAR-UFC 443, Fortaleza, Praia de Meireles, coll. J. Fausto Filho, 14.viii.1969; 1 hermaphrodite, MZUSP 33034, Paracuru, Praia da Pedra Rachada, rocky intertidal, under rocks, coll. A. Anker & P.P.G. Pachelle, 04.vii.2012 [fcn 12-163]; 1 ov. hermaphrodite, LIMCE-UFC 841, Paracuru, Praia da Pedra Rachada, rocky intertidal, under large rock, coll. P.P.G. Pachelle & C.B. Mendes, 31.i.2014 [fcn PP 14-014].

Distribution. Western Atlantic: USA (Florida Keys), Caribbean Sea (e.g., Trinidad & Tobago, Curaçao), Brazil (Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro) (Christoffersen 1998; Coelho et al. 2006; Riul et al. 2008; Almeida et al. 2012; Barros-Alves et al. 2015; present study).

Remarks. Lysmata intermedia is extremely difficult to distinguish, at least based on morphological grounds only, from the recently described L. jundalini Rhyne, Calado & Dos Santos, 2012, from the Caribbean Sea (Rhyne et al. 2012). However, the two species can be easily separated from each other by their diagnostic colour patterns, the most important features being the much wider longitudinal bands on the abdomen and the presence of a deepblue patch on the thoracic sternum, between the anterior walking legs, in L. jundalini. The colour pattern of the Ceará specimens of L. intermedia (Fig. 9) matches perfectly that of the Caribbean specimens in Rhyne et al. (2012: fig. 5).