Alpheus cf. packardii Kingsley, 1880

Material examined (N=40). 1f, 13/VI/2004, St. 0 7 (MZUESC #659); 1m, 13/VI/2004, St. 0 8 (MZUESC #660); 4m, 6f, 1juv, 24/III/2005, St. 0 4 (MZUESC #738); 5m, 10f, 25/III/2005, St. 0 5 (MZUESC #739).

Distribution. Western Atlantic – Bermuda, from Virginia to South Carolina, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, Mexico (Quintana Roo and Yucatán), Antilles, and Brazil (Rocas Atoll, Fernando de Noronha, and from Amapá to São Paulo) (Christoffersen 1979; 1998; Martínez-Iglesias et al. 1996). Records from the eastern Pacific (Gulf of California to Panama, Galapagos) refer to at least two different species, one of them A. normanni Kingsley, 1878 (A. Anker, personal communication).

Ecological notes. On mud, sand, calcareous algae, and broken shells, also on seagrass flats ( Thalassia and Diplanthera), oyster banks, and in Phragmatopoma reefs. Common in polyhaline zones of estuaries. Intertidal to 73 m (Christoffersen 1979, as A. normanni).

Previous records in Bahia. Christoffersen (1979) (as A. normanni).

Remarks. Species complex, with at least three species in the western Atlantic and two species in the eastern Pacific (A. Anker, personal communication).