6 - Sphaeromatidae::“Cute As Buttons”

Curassanthura bermudensis 67
Pereopod 1, propodus with mesial surface bearing proximal row of six spines.
Pleonites 1—5 short, fused, boundaries marked dorsally by folds. Telson pos­
teriorly broadly rounded. 6: 3.5 mm. Antennular flagellum of five articles.
RECORDS Bermuda, intertidal to 0.5 m.
Curassanthura Kensley, 1981
DIAGNOSIS Eyes lacking. Mandibular palp of three articles. Maxillipedal
palp of five articles; short endite present. Pereopod 1 subchelate. Pereopods
2-6 similar, carpi rectangular. Pereopod 7 lacking. Pleonites 1-5 free;
pleonite 6 dorsally demarked. Pleopod 1, exopod operculiform. Pleotelson
with single statocyst. Interstitial littoral forms.
REMARKS Three species of this interstitial genus are known, two from the
Caribbean, and one from the upper sublittoral gravels of a lava tunnel on
Lanzarote, Canary Islands.
Key to species of Curassanthura
1. Telson with posterior fourth abruptly narrowed; uropodal exopod
length 4.5 times greatest width bermudensis
Telson tapering, but posterior fourth not abruptly narrowed; uropodal
exopod length 2.5 times greatest width halma
Curassanthura bermudensis Wagele, 1985
Figure 30G,H
DIAGNOSIS 9 3.0 mm. Pereopod 1 propodal length 2.5 times proximal
width, palm with proximal strongly recurved hooklike tooth. Uropodal ex­
opod slender, parallel sided, 4.5 times longer than greatest width. Telson
constricted in posterior fourth.
RECORDS Church Cave, Bermuda, in shore sediments.