Synalpheus shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae). I. The Gambarelloides group, with a description of a new species

Dardeau, Michael R. (1984) Synalpheus shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae). I. The Gambarelloides group, with a description of a new species. St. Petersburg, FL, Florida Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Marine Research, (Memoirs of the Hourglass Cruises,VII-II)

Preview

PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (5Mb) | Preview

Abstract

The genus Synalpheus Bate, 1888, is one of the most diverse and widely distributed genera of caridean shrimps in the world. Often known as snapping shrimps because of the popping sound made by the major first pereopod when the chela is closed rapidly, members of this genus are important components of coral reef and live bottom communities in all tropical and subtropical seas. The Gambarelloides group (a well-defined, homogeneous group within the genus but lacking formal subgeneric status) contains over half the described species of Synalpheus in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Its many species are distinguished from each other by subtle, and often variable, characters. Accurate inventories of the Gulf fauna have been handicapped by difficulty in separating these shrimps at the specific level. Distributional data, diagnoses, and references to each of the 19 species of the group from the Western Atlantic Region are presented in this report. The 11 species known from the Gulf of Mexico are illustrated. Details of specific ecological associations, morphological variation, and life history strategies are also summarized. (Document has 125 pages.)

Actions (login required)