Decapoda - Brachyura - Pseudorhombilidae - Speocarcinus

Speocarcinus carolinensis Stimpson, 1859



World Distribution
Brandao et al. (2012 - Zootaxa) - North Carolina (south of Cape Hatteras) to the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies, between 15 and 43 m deep. (13 m for St. GD47, Karubenthos 2012).
Felder et al. (2009, Checklist) - Western Atlantic, 0-476 m. NCar–Fla Keys, Antil, Brz.
(Sasaki, 2019) - Brazil (Amapá and from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul);

Environnement : Marine - Substrat/Association : Soft bottom (mud or sand)

Vertical range : Shallow to deep-waters (e.g. 10-190 m) - Min-Max observed: 0-476 m

Lesser Antilles data
Distribution: VGI (St Thomas), ICA (Guadeloupe). 13-43 m. WA.
Speocarcinus carolinensis - Rathbun, 1918: 39, St Thomas. - Rathbun, 1933: 79, St Thomas.
Speocarcinus carolinensis - Guadeloupe, Karubenthos 2012, det. J. Poupin October 2013, 1 male 11.4 x 14.3 mm, st. GD47 (13 m), JL1201, MNHN-IU-2013-16274, photo field, labo.
Comment: This specimen is tentatively attributed to S. carolinensis. However, without comparison specimens the determination is difficult by using the characters documented in Brandão et al. (2010, 2012). The present determination is based on: a) frontal area just behind the frontal margin with several, poorly defined, transversal lines of granules; b) ocular peduncle smooth; b) male abdominal segment 2 free, not intercalated between edges of abdominal segments 3–5. There are 8 Speocarcinus species in the key of Brandão et al. (2012), including S. amazonicus Brandão, Tavares and Coelho-Filho, 2010, very similar, and also present in the Lesser Antilles (Martinique).

French Guiana and surroundings areas: Guiana, Suriname, Brazil (Amapà)
Speocarcinus carolinensis Stimpson – Young, 1900: 258, Guyana (?) [this crab lives in holes made in the sand, by other animals, about low-water mark, so I have noted it as it may be found on the muddy shores of British Guiana]. — Holthuis, 1959a: 235, Suriname. — Fausto Filho & Sampaio Neto, 1976: 69, Brazil Amapá (but see under Speocarcinus dentatus). — Williams, 1984: 437, Brazil Amapá. — Melo, 1996: 415, Brazil Amapá. — Melo, 1998: 492, Brazil Amapá. — Le Loeuff & Cosel, 2000: 25, annex 1, French Guiana. — Coelho et al., 2008: 35, Brazil Amapá [From Fausto Filho & Sampaio Neto (1976)].
Distribution/Habitat – WA; Marine; 0–150 m (to 476 m).

Comment(s) on data
Stimpson cited in Rathbun (1918: 39) "This crab lives in the subterranean galleries excavated in the mud at low-water mark by the Squilla callianassa, and other Crustacea, or by large Worms." Guinot (1969) has described Speocarcinus lobatus, a species very similar, distinct a few characters: a) 'sillons de la face dorsale moins marqués (chez lobatus)'; b) 'dents antéro-latérales bien détachées et même pointues chez carolinensis, tandis que chez lobatus il y a plutôt des lobes presque jointifs'; c) pl1 with a distal tuff o setae in carolinensis, at most with 1-2 long distal setae in lobatus. Guadeloupe specimen is attributed to carolinensis based on a-b; c) must be checked. Coloration of S. carolinensis specimen from Guadeloupe match that of S. lobatus (sp. from Texas) illustrated in color at
http://txmarspecies.tamug.edu/invertdetails.cfm?scinameID=Speocarcinus%20lobatus

References : PDF list, 214 pp (1.4 Mo)

This species in Worms Database