Decapoda - Brachyura - Portunidae - Achelous
| Achelous binoculus (Holthuis, 1969) |
World Distribution
Felder et al. (2009) - Western Atlantic. 63-475 m. Fla Str, Cuba, Yuc, Pan, Col.
Holthuis (1969) - The species has a rather wide distribution. It has repeatedly been found in the deeper waters between the Bahamas, Florida, and Cuba, and furthermore in the southwestern Caribbean off the coasts of Yucatan (Mexico), Panama, and Colombia. In several instances it was collected together with Portunus spinicarpus.
Environnement : Marine - Substrat/Association : Soft bottom (mud or sand)
Vertical range : Shallow to deep-waters (e.g. 10-190 m) - Min-Max observed: 63-475 m
Lesser Antilles data
Distribution: WA. Florida Strait, Cuban, Yucatan, Panama, Colombia. Lesser Antilles, ICA (Guadeloupe). 10-475 m.
Achelous binoculus - Poupin & Corbari, 2016: in press, Guadeloupe - Karubenthos 2012, det. E. Macpherson & Carmona-Suarez, Besse 2013, st. GB12, 14 May 2012, 16°25.61'N, 61°32.57'W, 14 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5367 (JL756); st. GD01, 4 May 2012, 16°22.57'N, 61°34.12'W, 80 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5220 (JL162), MNHN-IU-2013-5221 (JL146); st. GD02, 4 May 2012, 16°22.57'N, 61°34.12'W, 80 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5276 (JL217); st. GD16, 11 May 2012, 16°12.37'N, 61°47.2'W, 10 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5191; st. GD25, 14 May 2012, 16°25'N, 61°33'W, 160 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5286 (JL751); st. GD33, 16 May 2012, 16°24'N, 61°33'W, 130 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5289 (JL933); st. GD37, 18 May 2012, 16°22.8'N, 61°33.44'W, 60 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5366; st. GN01, 3 May 2012, 16°22.41'N, 61°35.57'W, 80 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5277 (JL69, photo), 5267 (JL70); st. GN04, 4 May 2012, 16°23'N, 61°36'W, 150 m, MNHN-IU-2013-4918 (JL169), MNHN-IU-2013-6860 (JL169, Photo); st. GN05, 4 May 2012, 16°23'N, 61°36'W, 160 m, MNHN-IU-2013-4922 (JL140), MNHN-IU-2013-5203 (JL140, Photo); st. GN06, 4 May 2012, 16°23'N, 61°36'W, 173 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5197 (JL155, Photo), MNHN-IU-2013-6849 (JL157); st. GN07, 5 May 2012, 16°23'N, 61°35'W, 150 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5201 (JL311, Photo), MNHN-IU-2013-6885 (JL305-1); st. GN08, 05MAY2012, 16°23'N, 61°34'W, 155 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5228 (JL306); st. GN10, 5 May 2012, 16°23'N, 61°33'W, 125 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5281 (JL304); st. GN11, 6 May 2012, 16°23'N, 61°36'W, 140 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5361 (JL307); st. GN12, 6 May 2012, 16°23'N, 61°37'W, 146 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5268, MNHN-IU-2013-5282 (JL320); st. GN21, 15 May 2012, 16°25'N, 61°33'W, 150 m, MNHN-IU-2013-5222 (JL816); st. GN23, 17 May 2012, 16°25'N, 61°33'W, 130 m, MNHN-IU-2013-4926 (JL951) - Guadeloupe (first record for Lesser Antilles), Karubenthos II 2015, st. CP4517, 9 June 2015, 16°24.4'N, 61°34'W, 178-185 m, MNHN-IU-2013-18820; st. CP4623, 26 June 2015, 15°55.72'N, 61°31.02'W, 217-182 m, MNHN-IU-2013-19123.
Comment: the species was found during Karubenthos 2012 (a lot of specimens collected between 10-160 m) and 2015 although this is its fist record in the Lesser Antilles. Minimum depth range is set herein to 10 m instead of 63 m. Achelous binoculus can be easily confused with A. spinicarpus, also collected during Karubenthos. The two species have a very long spine on the carpus of the cheliped but they are distinctive by two red spots on dorsal surface of the carapace in A. binoculus, absent in A. spinicarpus.
Comment(s) on data
Holthuis (1969) when describing this species and after examining numerous collections of the R/V Pillsbury (1966, 1968) indicates that it is strange that his new species was never taken off Venezuela (IOV) while A. spinicarpus was common there.
References : PDF list, 214 pp (1.4 Mo)This species in Worms Database