The sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Alpheidae, Synalpheus) of Discovery Bay, Jamaica, with descriptions of four new species
Author
Iii, Kenneth S Macdonald
Author
Hultgren, Kristin
Author
Duffy, Emmett
text
Zootaxa
2009
2199
1
57
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.189568
c668ee01-6eff-451a-9b96-be6f14b35edc
1175-5326
189568
Synalpheus bousfieldi
Chace
Figure 3
Material examined.
Jamaica
: Ovigerous female (
VIMS
08JAM0601), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of unidentified purple sponge. MaxCL ovigerous female:
3.01 mm
.
Color.
Translucent, gold-brown tinge toward distal portion of major chela; ovaries and embryos olive green to chestnut-brown.
Hosts and ecology.
Synalpheus bousfieldi
is typically found in pairs, most commonly in
Hyattella intestinalis
. In
Jamaica
, we found one individual in an unknown purple, mucus-producing sponge.
Distribution.
Bahamas
(
Dardeau 1984
);
Cuba
(
Martínez Iglesias and García Raso 1999
); Gulf of
Mexico
(
Dardeau 1984
); Yucatan,
Mexico
(
Chace 1972
);
Belize
(Macdonald et al. 2006;
Ríos and Duffy 2007
);
Jamaica
(this study).
Remarks.
Synalpheus bousfieldi
is a member of a complex of closely related, morphologically similar
Synalpheus
species that includes
S. brooksi
Coutière
,
S. carpenteri
Macdonald & Duffy
,
S. chacei
Duffy
, and the below-described S.
corallinus
n. sp.
,
S. plumosetosus
n. sp.
, and
S. thele
n. sp.
(see
Table 3
).
Synalpheus bousfieldi
is distinguishable from
S. brooksi
,
S. chacei
, and
S. thele
by the distal protuberance on the palm of the major chela, which tapers distally and curves slightly downward, toward the dactyl; from
S. chacei
,
S. corallinus
and
S. thele
by the presence of a thick brush of setae on the dactyl of the minor chela (instead of two longitudinal rows); from
S. plumosetosus
by the absence of plumose setae on the
gambarelloides
brush of the minor chela.
The single female, tentatively identified here as
S. bousfieldi
, shares all diagnostic characters with the typical
S. bousfieldi
(see
Chace 1972
, Macdonald and
Duffy 2007
), except for the fingers of the major chela, which are narrow, with straight flexor margins and unusual tips (
Fig 3
), unlike any other
Synalpheus
species. With only one specimen in hand, found in a sponge from which we had never collected shrimp before, it is difficult to determine if this individual belongs to a new species, or is
S. bousfieldi
with an aberrant major chela.
TABLE 3.
Morphological characters useful in distinguishing members of the
Synalpheus brooksi
species complex.
S. carpenteri
S. chacei
S. corallinus
S. bousfieldi
frontal margin normal shallow shallow normal
scaphocerite blade absent absent absent absent
minor chela dactyl setae thick brush two longitudinal two longitudinal thick brush rows rows
setae of minor chela brush simple simple simple simple
embryo color bright orange cream to pale coral pink olive green to
yellow chestnut brown
major chela protuberance distally produced, small tubercle distally produced, distally produced, curved towards palm curved towards palm curved towards palm
ovigerous females: others ~1:1 <<1:1 ~1:1 ~1:1