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 pandionis
Coutière
Color plates 4C, D, 5A
Material examined.
Jamaica
: 9 non-ovigerous individuals, 7 ovigerous females, (
VIMS
08JAM5901-15), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of
Lissodendoryx
sp. Non-ovigerous individual, ovigerous female, (
VIMS
08JAM9001,02), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of
Lissodendoryx
sp. MaxCL ovigerous female:
6.75 mm
. MaxCL non-ovigerous individual:
6.08 mm
.
Color.
Faint orange, often with a pale reddish tinge; distal portion of major chela brilliant orange; embryos and ovaries either green or bright orange.
Hosts and ecology.
Synalpheus pandionis
was only found in two specimens of a free-standing, very softbodied sponge within the genus
Lissodendoryx
. In
Belize
, it was found most frequently in
Lissodendoryx
cf.
strongylata
van Soest, and was typically found as a single pair of shrimp.
Distribution.
Bahamas
(
Lemaitre 1984
);
Cuba
(
Martínez Iglesias and García Raso 1999
);
Virgin Islands
(
Coutière 1909
;
Chace 1972
); Gulf of
Mexico
(
Dardeau, 1984
);
Belize
(Macdonald et al. 2006;
Ríos and Duffy 2007
); Discovery Bay,
Jamaica
(this study).
Remarks.
Synalpheus pandionis
is one of a complex of morphologically similar species that includes
Synalpheus
ul
Ríos and Duffy,
Synalpheus dardeaui
Ríos and Duffy
and
Synalpheus yano
Ríos and Duffy.
Specimens of
S. pandionis
from
Jamaica
superficially resemble
S. dardeaui
, another large orange species that commonly occurs in
Lissodendoryx colombiensis
in
Belize
. However, all individuals collected in
Jamaica
possessed square ocular hoods, unequal sized distal fingers on the minor first chela, and uropod characteristics typical of
S. pandionis
(see
Ríos and Duffy 2007
for more details). While embryo and ovary color varied among females, this variation did not seem to consistently coincide with other morphological differences.