Ghost Prawns (Sub-Family Luciferinae) in Hawaii

ROBERT W. HIATTl

SPECIMENS OF THE ghost prawn, Luciferfaxonii Borradaile, have been found to con-stitute a significant item of the diet of thelocal baitfish "nehu," Anchoviella purpurea(Fowler). The prawn was especially abun-dant in nehu taken from the Ala Wai Canal

I

in Honolulu and less abundant in nehucaught in a fish pond supplied with tidalwater from the West Loch of Pearl Harbor.Plankton tows subsequently made in theselocalities showed the prawn to be very abun-dant in the Ala Wai Canal from Januaryto August and to be less abundant duringthis period in Pearl Harbor. Plankton tows

-- also disclosed the presence of very smallnumbers of this species (8 specimens in6,700 gallons of water strained in June) infish ponds on the leeward shore of the islandof Molokai.These findings represent the first records

fot this species in the Hawaiian Archipelagoand the first record for the sub-family Luci-ferinae since Bate (1888: 468) cited Hawaiias a locality in which L. typus H. Milne-Edwards (= L. reynaudii Bate) was col-lected by members of the "Challenger" Ex-pedition. The.name reynaudii applied to theHawaiian specimens by Bate has been con-signed by Hansen (1919: 49), with somereservation, to the synonomy of L. typus H.Milne-Edwards because these specimens fallwithin the known range of variation for thelatter species. Thus, it is probable that twoof the six recognized species of this ano-malous and widely distributed group residein Hawaiian waters.

1 Department of Zoology and Entomology, Uni-versity of Hawaii. Manuscript received February6, 1947.

Only two other authenticated records, onefor each species mentioned above, are knownfor the Central Pacific area. Edmondson(1923: 35) collected two specimens whichhe designated as L. reynaudii H. Milne-Edwards from surface to~s in the lagoonat Fanning Island, about 1,400 miles southof Oahu. Upon re-examining the speci-mens, Edmondson (1925: 5) corrected hisearlier identification, and referred them toL. faxonii Borradaile. These specimens havebeen rechecked recently and compared to thespecimens taken in the Ala Wai Canal, andare undoubtedly faxonii. All the knownrecords for this species in the Central Pacificwere of specimens collected from watersless saline than ocean water, and those forHawaii were obtained from specimens col-lected from brackish, estuarine localities.However, records elsewhere (Hansen, 1919:63) indicate that this species is pelagic aswell as an inshore inhabitant. L. faxonii iswidespread in the waters about the Nether-lands Indies and the West Indies, and in themiddle Atlantic from latitude 33° N. tolatitude 23° S.

L. typus (= L. reynaudii Bate) was takenin Hawaii at an undisclosed location by mem-bers of the "Challenger" Expedition, andEdmondson (loc. cit.) collected 1 male and10 female specimens in a surface tow at nighta few miles southwest of Wake Island, about2,000 miles west and north of Oahu. Thesespecimens have been checked and the maleis undoubtedly typus, as evidenced by thelong eyestalks, the position of the posteriormargin of the large ventral protuberance onthe telson, and the character of the petasma.However, all the females are immature;

241

•

242

none has spines on the sixth abdominal seg·ment, nor is the protuberance present on thetelson. Thus, it is impossible to determinedefinitely whether they· belong to L. orien·talis Hansen or to L. typus. Since t4ey weretaken in the same tow with the male speci·men identified as typus, it is probable thatthey areconspecific. the distribution oftypus in the Pacific and Indian Oceans isconfused since orientalis and typus, bothlong· eyestalked species,·were not separateduntil 1919 (Hansen, op. cit.). Thus, allrecords of long eyestalked species in these'Ocean areas prior to 1919 must be discardedas .without specific value. L. typus is very:lbundant in the Atlantic from latitude 34°N. to latitude 40° S., and has been found inthe Pacific and Indian Oceans near thePhilippines, the South China Sea, the Bayof Bengal, and the Netherlands Indies, aswell as at Wake Island and the HawaiianIslands. This species, so far as is known, isnot found inshore or in brackish water.The known Hawaiian species may be sep·

arated by the following key:

A. Distance between the labrum and the in·sertion of the eyestalks somewhat or onlya little longer than the eyestalks witheyes (the basal short joint of the stalks

PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. 1, October, 1947

included) . In the male, the terminalportion of the petasma moderatelythick, and the processus ventralis shapedas a somewhat broad plate ................................L typus H. M.-Edw.

B. Distance between the labrum and the in·sertion of the eyestalks more than twiceas long as the eyestalks with eyes. In themale, the terminal portion of the petasmatapers gradually from the base to theacute end, and the p,ocessus ventralis isneedle-like, tapering to the very acuteend L faxonii Borrad.

REFERENcES

BATE, C. SPENCE. Report on the Crustacea Ma­crura collected by H. M. S. "Challenger" duringthe years 1873-76. Challenger Rpt., Zool., vol.24. xc + 942 p., 150 pl., 76 fig. London, 1888.

EDMONDSON, C. H. Crustacea from Palmyra andFanning Islands. Bernice P. Bishop Mus. Bul.5. 43 p., 2 pl., 3 fig. Honolulu, 1923.--, W. K. FISHER, H. L. CLARK, A. 1. TREAD-

WELL, and]. A. CUSHMAN. Marine zoology oftropical Central Pacific. Bernice P. Bishop Mus.Bul. 27. ii + 148 p., 11 pl., 11 fig. Honolulu,1925.

HANSEN, H. J. The Sergestidae of the "Siboga". Expedition. Uitkomsten op Zoologisch, Bota-nisch, Oceanographisch en Geologisch Gebied,Monog. 38. 65 p., 5 pl., 14 fig. Leiden, 1919.