6 - Sphaeromatidae::“Cute As Buttons”

Astacilla regina 253
pleopod 1 6 with median notch and three specialized setae; pleopod 2 copu-
latory stylet apically trifid. Pereonite 4 considerably longer than preceeding
or following pereonite.
Astacilla cymodocea Menzies and Glynn, 1968
Figure 107A,B
DIAGNOSIS 6 6.4 mm, ovigerous 9 9.0 mm. Body cylindrical, ovigerous 9
with pereonite 4 somewhat bulged, 6 with pereonite 4 elongate-cylindrical.
Shallow groove marking fusion between cephalon and pereonite 1. Pleonites
fused with pleotelson, with two incomplete shallow dorsal grooves marking
lines of fusion anteriorly. Pleotelson lacking any shoulders, posteriorly tape­
red to narrowly rounded apex.
RECORDS Florida Keys; Puerto Rico, 1.5 m, on Cymodocea sp. seagrass; Car­
rie Bow Cay, Belize, 1—2 m, on Syringodium filiforme seagrass.
REMARKS In life, A. cymodocea is bright green, blending in with its preferred
substrate of seagrasses.
Astacilla lasallae Paul and Menzies, 1971
Figure 107C
DIAGNOSIS 9 3.5 mm. Cephalon with large rounded area bearing pair of
spines; all pereonites and two anterior fused pleonites bearing pair of short
submedian spines. Pleotelson with strong anterior shoulder, posteriorly tri­
angular, tapering sharply to narrowly rounded apex.
RECORD Off Venezuela, 95 m.
REMARKS This species is known only from the small female holotype, and
until a mature male and ovigerous female are found, it cannot be confidently
diagnosed.
Astacilla regina Kensley, 1984
Figure 107D-G
DIAGNOSIS 6 6.5 mm, ovigerous 9 7.1 mm. Body strongly tuberculate,
many tubercles acute. Cephalon with two submedian pairs of acute tuber­
cles; fused pereonite 1 and pereonites 2 and 3 each with single middorsal
acute tubercle. Pereonite 4 with strong middorsal tubercle situated in ante-