Sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps (Alpheidae: Synalpheus) of Barbados, West Indies, with a description of a new eusocial species
Author
Hultgren, Kristin M.
Author
Iii, Kenneth S Macdonald
Author
Duffy, Emmett
text
Zootaxa
2011
2834
1
16
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.208079
d257ffa5-d83e-449f-9be3-b456ab6f7b28
1175-5326
208079
Synalpheus thele
Macdonald, Hultgren & Duffy 2009
Material examined.
Barbados
: 2 non-ovigerous individuals (
VIMS
08BR6709), Cement Factory, from
Hyattella intestinalis
. 1 ovigerous female (
VIMS
08BR1401), Spawnee Reef, from
H. intestinalis
.
1 ovigerous female, 1 non-ovigerous individual (
VIMS
08BR701), Spawnee Reef, from
Hymeniacidon caerulea
.
1 ovigerous female (
VIMS
08BR802), Spawnee Reef, no host unknown. 1 ovigerous female (
VIMS
08BR9905), Thunder Bay, from
Spirastrella
sp. Largest ovigerous female, CL
3.28 mm
, largest non-ovigerous individual, CL
3.22 mm
.
Color.
Ovigerous females had pale grass-green ovaries.
Hosts and ecology.
In
Barbados
,
S thele
was found primarily in the sponges
Hyattella intestinalis
and
Hymeniacidon caerulea
, but not in
Agelas clathrodes
, which was the only known sponge hosting
S. thele
in
Jamaica
(
Macdonald
et al.
2009
).
Distribution.
Discovery Bay,
Jamaica
(
Macdonald et al. 2009
);
Barbados
(this study).
Remarks.
In
Barbados
,
S. thele
can be distinguished from other morphologically similar species in the
S. brooksi
complex by several characters. For instance, the tuft of setae on the minor chela forms two parallel rows in
S. thele
,
but forms a thick brush in other members of the complex. The distodorsal protuberance of the major chela in
S. thele
is short and distinctly rounded distally, unlike the longer and more acute protuberance of
S. idios
and
S. bousfiel
di in
Barbados
.