6 - Sphaeromatidae::“Cute As Buttons”

122 FLABELLIFERA • CIROLANIDAE
single spine on posterior margin. Plcotelson with posterior margin evenly
and broadly rounded; usually with inverted W-shaped band of pigment.
RECORDS Florida Keys, shallow infratidal-4 m; Tortugas, from gills ofjew-
fish Epinephelus itajara, mutton snapper Lutjanus analis; U.S. Virgin Islands,
on mutton snapper Lutjanus analis, on yellowfin grouper Mycteroperca venenosa;
Bahamas, on sheepshead Archosargus probatocephalus, on mutton snapper Lut­
janus analis, on blackfin snapper Lutjanus buccanella, on queen triggerfish Bat­
istes vetula, on saucereye porgy Calamus calamus; Jamaica, on French grunt
Haemulon Jlavolineatum, hogfish Lachnolaimus maximus, on parrotfish Sparisoma
viride; Haiti; Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 60—93 m, on gills of tiger shark
Galeocerdo cuvieri; Puerto Rico, in gill slits of southern stingray Dasyatis amer-
icana, in gill slits of nurse shark Ginglymostoma cirratum; Jamaica; Carrie Bow
Cay and Blue Ground Range, Belize, 0.5—2 m, on jolthead porgy Calamus
bajonado and sheepshead porgy Calamus penna, on peacock flounder Bothus lu-
natus, on queen triggerfish Balistes vetula, on Caranx sp., on barracuda
Sphyraena barracuda, on hogfish Lachnolaimus maximus, on mutton snapper Lut­
janus analis; Venezuela, on Orthopristis ruber, on Haemulon steindachneri; Sur­
inam, on gills of sheepshead porgy Calamus penna; Gulf of Mexico off Florida,
shallow infratidal-55 m, on red grouper Epinephelus morio, on Lutjanus black-
fordi, on black grouper Mycteroperca bonaci, on clearnose skate Raja eglanteria.
Pacific records: Southern California and Gulf of California; Socorro Is­
land; Panama; Costa Rica.
REMARKS While often taken from fish hosts (sometimes in the gill cham­
ber), this species is equally frequently found freeliving in shallow water over
sand and coral rubble. The species will also attach itself to humans, inflicting
a sharp bite as it tries to feed.
Family Cirolanidae Dana, 1852
DIAGNOSIS Eyes when present, relatively small, lateral. Frontal lamina
present. Mandible with tridentate incisor, lacinia mobilis, blade- or sawlike
molar, and palp. Maxillipedal palp of five articles, endite present. Coxal
plates present on pereonites 2-7, distinctly separated by suture from tergite.
Pereopods generally ambulatory, although anterior three pairs prehensile in
some genera, and posterior four pairs natatory in some genera. Picon of five
free pleonites plus pleotelson in most genera; pleonite 5 with free lateral mar­
gins or overlapped by pleonite 4. Pleopods membranous, lacking ridges or
folds. Uropods situated at anterolateral angles of pleotelson, freely articulat­
ing, both rami well developed, mobile.