Synalpheus bousfieldi Chace

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 : 11-12

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.

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

Figures

FIGURE 3. Synalpheus bousfieldi. Non-ovigerous individual CL: 3.01 mm (08 JAM 0601) chela of major first pereopod, anterior region, ventral view. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.