Synalpheus carpenteri Macdonald and Duffy

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 : 15-16

Synalpheus carpenteri Macdonald and Duffy

Color plate 2C

Material examined. Jamaica: 2 non-ovigerous individuals, ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM1001,02), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of Agelas cf. clathrodes . 2 non-ovigerous individuals, 2 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM 1301-03), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of Agelas cf. dispar . Non-ovigerous individual ( VIMS 08JAM1401), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . Non-ovigerous individual, ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM1501,02), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 9 nonovigerous individuals, 8 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM1701,02), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 68 non-ovigerous individuals, 21 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM2006-26,28,29), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of A. cf. dispar . Non-ovigerous individual ( VIMS 08JAM2101), Pear Tree Bottom Reef, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . Non-ovigerous individual ( VIMS 08JAM2301), Dairy Bull Reef, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . Non-ovigerous individual ( VIMS 08JAM2401), Dairy Bull Reef, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 10 non-ovigerous individuals, 3 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM 2601-04), Dairy Bull Reef, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 4 non-ovigerous individuals, 2 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM3004,07,08), Dairy Bull Reef, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 4 non-ovigerous individuals, 2 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM3501- 04), fore-reef (near M1 channel marker), Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 11 non-ovigerous individuals, 7 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM3801-04), fore-reef (near M1 channel marker), Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 8 non-ovigerous individuals, 7 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM3901-08), fore-reef (near M1 channel marker), Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 2 non-ovigerous individuals ( VIMS 08JAM4106,07), fore-reef (near M1 channel marker), Discovery Bay, from canals of A. clathrodes . 21 non-ovigerous individuals, 6 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM4402-09), fore-reef (near M1 channel marker), Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 4 non-ovigerous individuals, 3 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM6102,09,13,14,23), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . Non-ovigerous individual, ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM6801,02), Dairy Bull Reef, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 4 nonovigerous individuals, 3 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM8001-05), wall off Rio Bueno, from canals of A. cf. dispar . Non-ovigerous individual, ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM8101,02), wall off Rio Bueno, Jamaica, from canals of A. cf. dispar . Ovigerous female ( VIMS 08JAM8301), wall off Rio Bueno, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . 11 non-ovigerous individuals, 7 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM8502,04-10), wall off Rio Bueno, from canals of A. cf. dispar . 11 non-ovigerous individuals, 11 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08JAM8904,07,11,15-19), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of A. cf. clathrodes . MaxCL ovigerous female: 3.78 mm. MaxCL non-ovigerous individual: 3.17 mm.

Color. Bright orange overall, distal portion of major chela typically even brighter orange; embryos and ovaries are also an intense bright orange.

Hosts and ecology. Synalpheus carpenteri appears to be a specialist inhabiting sponges of the genus Agelas . In Jamaica, S. carpenteri was found in large numbers, typically in relatively equal sex ratios, and was the most commonly found shrimp in both A. cf. clathrodes and A. cf. dispar . This contrasts with the situation in Belize (Macdonald et al. 2006; Rios and Duffy 2007) and Caribbean Panama (Macdonald and Duffy 2007), where S. carpenteri is less common and typically occurs as one or a few pairs per sponge.

Distribution. Bahamas (as S. bousfieldi in part, Dardeau 1984; Macdonald and Duffy 2007); Caribbean Panama (Macdonald and Duffy 2006); Belize (Macdonald et al. 2006; Macdonald and Duffy 2006; Ríos and Duffy 2007); Jamaica (this study).

Remarks. Synalpheus carpenteri is another member of a complex of closely related, morphologically similar species that includes S. brooksi , S. bousfieldi , S. chacei , S. corallinus n. sp., S. plumosetosus n. sp., and S. thele n. sp. (see Table 3). In life it is easily distinguishable from all other members of the complex by the intense orange color, especially the brilliant orange of the ovaries and developing embryos (see Color Plate 2C). In preserved specimens, it can be recognized by the short, wide telson and usually by the extremely short distolateral spines of the basicerite and scaphocerite. However, two of the new species described here ( S. corallinus and S. plumosetosus ) also have basicerite and scaphocerite distolateral spines that rarely reach beyond the distal margin of the second segment of the antennular peduncle. Synalpheus carpenteri can be differentiated from S. corallinus by the width of the telson (telson length/proximal margin width ratio averages 0.75 in S. carpenteri and 1.19 in S. corallinus ) and by the presence of a thick brush of setae on the dactyl of the minor chela (vs. two closely set, longitudinal rows of setae in S. corallinus ), and from S. plumosetosus by the stouter telson (ratio of length/proximal margin width ~ 0.75 in S. carpenteri vs. ~ 1.04 in S. plumosetosus ) and by the lack of plumose setae in the minor chela setal brush.