Periclimenes imperator Bruce 1967

Periclimenes imperator Bruce, 1967 Periclimenes imperator Bruce, 1967: 53 –62, figures. 23–25. Periclimenes imperator. — Fransen & Goud, 2000: 273 –283, figures 1–4.: Material examined. 3 juv., MAP­ 202, ST­119, 12° 42.434 ’N 53 ° 37.605 ’E, off Madinah, N coast, 17–18 m, 29 March 1999, 2 spms SMF 29213, 1 spm NHCY. Host: Unidentified holothurian (Holothuria, Echinodermata). Regional records: Not previously reported in the north western Indian Ocean. General distribution: Type locality:: Chumbe Island, Zanzibar. Found on Indo­West Pacific coral reefs from the northern Red Sea to the Hawaiian Islands in association with nudibranchs and holothurians. Remarks: Associated with a variety of holothurian genera as adults and also with a variety of nudibranch hosts, often as juveniles. The specimens are morphologically typical of this species. A wide variety of colour patterns exist in life in this species, mainly variations of red and yellow/white, which suggests that a complex of sibling species may exist, one of which may be Periclimenes rex Kemp 1922, with separate host associations.Published as part of Bruce, A. J., 2006, Pontoniine shrimps (Decapoda: Palaemonidae) from the island of Socotra, with descriptions of new species of Dactylonia Fransen, 2002 and Periclimenoides Bruce, 1990, pp. 1-36 in Zootaxa 1137 on page 21, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17199