Panulirus meripurpuratus Giraldes & Smyth 2016

Panulirus meripurpuratus Giraldes & Smyth, 2016 Panulirus meripurpuratus Giraldes & Smyth, 2016: 354, figs. 1–3, 4B, 5. Material examined. Brazil, São Paulo: 1 ♂, CCDB 1546, Ubatuba, Enseada de Ubatuba, coll. F. Mantelatto, 20.vi.1998. Distribution. Western Atlantic— Brazil (São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago, Rocas Atoll, Fernando de Noronha, Abrolhos, Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Santa Catarina) (Moreira 1901; Oliveira 1940 as Senex argus; as P. argus by Luederwaldt 1919, 1929; Williams 1965; Coelho & Ramos 1972; Ramos-Porto et al. 1978; Coelho & Ramos-Porto 1980; Williams 1984; Abele & Kim 1986; Coelho et al. 1990; Holthuis 1991; Coelho & Ramos-Porto 1994 -1995; Melo 1999; Barros & Pimentel 2001; Coelho et al. 2007; Serejo et al. 2007; Silva et al. 2007; Alves et al. 2008; Dall´Occo 2010; Teschima et al. 2012; Tourinho et al. 2012; Faria Jr. et al. 2013; Silva et al. 2013; Gaeta et al. 2015; Giraldes & Smyth 2016 as P. meripurpuratus; Cintra et al. 2017; Gaeta & Cruz 2019; Silva et al. 2020 as P. argus). Records from Cape Verde and Caribbean Sea-Florida are considered as not identified population (Freitas & Castro 2005; Tourinho et al. 2012; Giraldes & Smyth 2016). There is an episodic occurrence in Bahía de la Ascensión, Mexico (Briones-Fourzán et al. 2019). Remarks. Previous records from the coast of São Paulo include Ubatuba, Ilhabela (Ilha de São Sebastião), and Santos (Moreira 1901; Luederwaldt 1919; Mantelatto et al. 2018 as P. argus). Panulirus is one of the most abundant and economically exploited genera of crustacean in the Americas and Caribbean waters (Holthuis 1991; Sarver et al. 2000); being P. meripurpuratus the target species of the Brazilian fishery (Giraldes & Smyth 2016; Gaeta & Cruz 2019). Sarver et al. (1998; 2000) found two distinct clades under material identified as P. argus, one with Caribbean distribution (P. argus argus) and another distributed in the USA, Venezuela, and Brazil (P. argus westonii); these authors, however, did not provide any nomenclatural act resulting of those studies. Naro-Maciel et al. (2011) and Tourinho et al. (2012) recognized these two subspecies as two distinct lineages. Tourinho et al. (2012) suggested that P. argus is a Caribbean species, whereas the southwestern Atlantic species was considered an undescribed species of Panulirus. Even though, populations of P. argus from these areas have been currently treated as a single species by governments and international fisheries organizations (Tourinho et al. 2012). Giraldes & Smyth (2016) found differences in both color pattern and morphology and described P. meripurpuratus from Brazilian waters, considering P. argus restricted to North American and Caribbean waters. The Amazon-Orinoco plume was pointed out as the main factor leading to allopatric speciation (Sarver et al. 1998, 2000; Tourinho et al. 2012), separating P. argus and P. meripurpuratus into genetically different populations (Giraldes & Smyth 2016). Chan (2019) highlighted that Giraldes & Smyth (2016) did not consider details regarding some old synonyms in P. argus when described P. meripurpuratus, such as P. ricordi Guérin-Méneville, 1836, and P. americanus H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Holthuis 1991; Chan 2010), and despite this comment, the author made no suggestion whatsoever about whether or not a future nomenclatural check is necessary. For this reason, we considered P. meripurpuratus as valid species in the present study. The episodic occurrence of two individuals of P. meripurpuratus in Bahía de la Ascensión (Mexico) probably is linked with the high potential for larval retention in this area, but persistent populations of adult are unlikely to occur (Briones-Fourzán et al. 2019). Sequences accession number (GenBank): CCDB 1546—16S (MF490147), COI (MF490043) (Mantelatto et al. 2018).