Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The genus Microprosthema occurs in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans
(Saito & Anker, 2014). In the Atlantic Ocean, the genus has only been reported
from several localities in the western Atlantic and from a single record in the
central Atlantic (Ascension Island, see Manning & Chace, 1990). Currently, six
species of the genus are known to occur in the Atlantic (Goy & Martin, 2013),
with Microprosthema semilaeve (von Martens, 1872) being the most common
and widespread, occurring from Bermuda through Florida, the Caribbean Sea and
the Gulf of Mexico, southwards to northeastern Brazil (Goy & Martin, 2013).
Microprosthema manningi Goy & Felder, 1988 appears also to be reasonably
widespread, being recorded from Isla de Providencia (Colombia), Belize, Veracruz (Mexico), Florida and the British Virgin Islands (the latter record as Microprosthema jareckii Martin, 2002). Three species, Microprosthema looensis Goy &
Felder, 1988 from Looe Key (Florida, U.S.A.), Microprosthema granatense Criales, 1997 from Granate Bay (Colombia), and Microprosthema tortugasensis Goy
& Martin, 2013 from the Dry Tortugas (Florida, U.S.A.), are only known for their
respective holotypes.