First record of Alpheus platycheirus Boone, 1927 (Crustacea, Alpheidae) on the northwest coast of Venezuela

Study Extent

A two-day sampling was carried out on El Supi coast (Falcón state, Venezuela)

Sampling

Sampling was conducted in the Venezuelan Paraguaná Peninsula on May 19th and 20th, 2013, during the predominant dry season. The sampling site El Supí (12°00’51.2”N 69°49’59.9”W) is located outside of protected areas and close to tourist attractions. El Supí is composed of sandy beaches with a low profile and muddy waters, with intermixed Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König 1805 and Halodule wrigthii Ascherson 1868 seagrass beds (Mariño et al., 2018).

Method steps

1. 1. Intensive nocturnal samplings with a manual push net with an opening of 1 m (width) x 0.5 m (height), and a mesh size of 1 mm (modified from Manning, 1975). 2. Fixation of the organisms in situ using ethanol (70%) with glycerin (1%) and photographing them (Cannon Power Shot SX20 IS, zoom lens 20X IS 5.0−100.0 mm 1:2.8−5.7 USM). 3. Measuring of the specimens (CL = carapace length) and depositing them in the Centro Museo de Biología de la Universidad Central de Venezuela (Centro MBUCV).

The specimens were classified down to species.

1. Alpheus platycheirus
   rank: species

El Supí is located outside of protected areas and close to tourist attractions. It is composed of sandy beaches with a low profile and muddy waters, with intermixed Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König 1805 and Halodule wrigthii Ascherson 1868 seagrass beds (Mariño et al., 2018).