Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat

Iii, Kenneth S Macdonald, Hultgren, Kristin & Duffy, Emmett, 2009, The sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Alpheidae, Synalpheus) of Discovery Bay, Jamaica, with descriptions of four new species, Zootaxa 2199, pp. 1-57 : 7

Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat and Heard

Color plate 1A,B

Material examined. Jamaica. Ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM0814), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of Agelas cf. clathrodes . 3 non-ovigerous individuals, 3 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM2001-05,27), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of Agelas cf. dispar . 3 non-ovigerous individuals, ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM3001-03,06), Dairy Bull Reef (18° 28.083΄ N, 77° 23.289΄ W), from canals of A. cf. dispar . Ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM4401), fore-reef (near M1 channel marker) Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. dispar . Non-ovigerous individual, ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM5601,02), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . Non-ovigerous individual, ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM6106,12), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . 3 non-ovigerous individuals, 2 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM8501,03,11), wall off Rio Bueno, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 6 non-ovigerous individuals, 2 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM8909,30,31), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . Maximum CL (MaxCL) ovigerous female: 4.55 mm. MaxCL Non-ovigerous individual: 3.78 mm.

Color. Orange, with distal palm and fingers of major chela brighter orange; ovaries and embryos usually brilliant orange, green in a few females (see Color plate 1A).

Hosts and ecology. As its name suggests, S. agelas has only been found inhabiting the canals of two members of the sponge genus Agelas : A. cf. dispar , and A. cf. clathrodes ; in Jamaica it was usually found in heterosexual pairs, often sharing the sponge with Synalpheus carpenteri Macdonald and Duffy, 2006 , and Synalpheus thele n. sp. (see below).

Distribution. Bahamas ( Dardeau 1984), Gulf of Mexico ( Pequegnat and Heard 1979; Dardeau 1984), Puerto Rico ( Dardeau 1984), Cuba ( Martínez Iglesias and García Raso 1999), Belize (Macdonald et al 2006; Ríos and Duffy 2007), Jamaica (this study).

Remarks. The specimens of S. agelas collected in Jamaica resemble those found in other locales, with the exception that some females carried green embryos (see Color plate 1A), unlike the orange embryos carried by females in other regions; these females, however, were morphologically alike in every other regard.