CAPRELLIDAE OF WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC 39 



angusta differs from the typical C. penantis. Specimens of C. angvsia 

 have been compared with specimens which Mayer identified as C. 

 acutifrons f. natalensis and neglecta and with specimens \\hich I 

 earlier (19G5) identified as C. geometrica. With the exception of the 

 setose versus nonsetose palm of gnathopod 2, I can find no variation 

 which is not ascribable to size differences. I have therefore synony- 

 mized C. angusta with the typical C. penantis. 



The specimens from Cayenne, French Guiana, belong to that 

 portion of C. penantis which bears almost no setae on the palm of 

 gnathopod 2. It might well be that C. penantis could be divided 

 into two subspecies on the basis of the setation of gnathopod 2; 

 however, material from Chile, Australia, and New Zealand would 

 have to be examined since Nicolet's name C. spinijrons or possibly 

 Kirk's name C. novae- zealandiae would probably have priority over 

 one of Mayer's varietal names. Material is not available to me from 

 these areas so I have refrained from naming subspecies. 



Kirk's (1S7S) description of C. novae-zealandiae agrees with that 

 of C. penantis, and he states that his species is close to C. geometrica. 

 Thomson and Chilton (1885, 1S86) synonymized C. novae-zealandiae 

 with C. eguilibra; however. Kirk states "Cephalon furnished with 

 a spinous tooth directed forwards." It seems unlikely that Kirk 

 could have been referring to C. eguilibra, so I have sj-nonymized 

 his species with C. penantis. 



In my sj'nonymy, when a reference to the variety of C. acutifrons 

 or C. penantis is not indicated, this lack of designation is indicated 

 by a question mark in brackets before the author or date. Such 

 records are not included in the distribution of this species, so it is 

 possible that C. penantis might also be found as far north as Spits- 

 bergen, the Mediterranean Sea, the Falkland Islands, Chile, Cook 

 Strait, and the Bering Sea. 



This species is probably the most common caprellid along the 

 east coast of the United States. It occurs in such abundance from 

 Long Island to Chesapeake Bay that I have had several reports 

 that it is a pest to swimmers. One rej)ort from Sinepuxcnt Bay, Md. 

 stated that C. penantis fastens itself to the exposed parts of swimmers' 

 bodies and either bites or sucks, causing an irritation that forms a 

 blister \\hich lasts for a week or more. Such an irritation might be 

 caused by the associated hydroids and not by the cti})rellid itself, 

 but this possibility has not been verified. 



C. j)enantis is quite nonspecific in its habitat preference and has 

 been taken on various red and brown algae, sea grass, sponges, hy- 

 droids, alcyonarians, zoantharians, and bryozoans. Chilton (1911) 

 reports that this species was collected from a coconut which was 

 washed ashore; I have found it clinging to the spines of the echinoid 



