Pilumnopeus caparti

Pilumnopeus caparti (Monod, 1956)

Pilumnopeus africanus.—Capart, 1951:150, fig. 55, pl. 3: fig. 1 [not Heteropanope africana De Man, 1902].

Heteropanope (Pilumnopeus) caparti Monod, 1956:268, figs. 314–318.—Rossignol, 1962:117.

Heteropanope caparti.—Gauld, 1960:70.—Longhurst, 1957:374; 1958:88.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.—Pillsbury Material: None.

Other Material: Nigeria, between Brass and Port Harcourt, Niger delta, May–Aug 1960, H. J. G. Beets, 1, 1 (L).

DESCRIPTION.—Capart, 1951:150.

Figures: Capart, 1951, fig. 55, pl. 3: fig. 1; Monod, 1956, figs. 314–318.

Male Pleopod: Capart, 1951, pl. 3: fig. 1 (Congo); Monod, 1956, figs. 316–318 (Ghana).

Color: According to Capart (1951:150) this species is “brun-rouge, les pinces plus claires, les doigts noirs à leur extrémité”

MEASUREMENTS.—Our specimens have carapace widths of 4 to 11 mm.

BIOLOGY.—Pilumnopeus caparti is an inshore, estuarine species; most of the material reported in the literature was collected at or near the mouths of rivers. Capart's (1951) material was taken in 6–8 m on brown, black mud, and one of Monod's specimens was taken from a beacon at a river mouth. Longhurst (1957) found this species in the stomach contents of Arius latiscutatus Günther in the Sierra Leone River and in 1958 characterized P. caparti as an estuarine, shallow shelf species; it was found on rocks, muddy sand, shelly mud, and sand. It also was reported by Longhurst in the latter paper from one shelf station in 72 m; that record appears to be questionable.

Ovigerous females have been collected in August (Capart, 1951).

DISTRIBUTION.—West Africa, from scattered localities between Sierra Leone and the Congo, usually in estuaries. Records in the literature include the following:

Sierra Leone: No specific locality, in estuaries (Longhurst, 1958). Freetown (Monod, 1956). Sierra Leone River (Longhurst, 1957).

Ghana: U.A.C. beach, Ada, River Volta (type-locality) (Monod, 1956; Gauld, 1960).

Cameroon: Mouth of Wouri (River) (Monod, 1956).

Congo: Mouth of Songololo River, Pointe-Noire (Rossignol, 1962).

Zaire: Crique de Banana, 06°01′S, 12°23′30″E, 6–8 m (Capart, 1951).

Pilumnus Leach, 1815a:321 [type-species: Cancer hirtellus Linnaeus, 1761, by monotypy; gender: masculine; name 348 on Official List].—Takeda and Miyake, 1968:2 [list of Indo-West Pacific species].