Synalpheus idios ( Rios & Duffy 2007 )

Hultgren, Kristin M., Iii, Kenneth S Macdonald & Duffy, Emmett, 2011, Sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps (Alpheidae: Synalpheus) of Barbados, West Indies, with a description of a new eusocial species, Zootaxa 2834, pp. 1-16 : 6-7

Synalpheus idios ( Rios & Duffy 2007)

Material examined. Barbados: 14 non-ovigerous individuals, 2 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08BR6502, 08BR6601– 4), Harrison’s Point reef, from Hyrtios cf. proteus . 17 non-ovigerous individuals, 4 ovigerous females ( VIMS 08BR101–5), Pamir reef, from Hyrtios cf. proteus . Largest ovigerous female, CL 3.90 mm, largest non-ovigerous individual, CL 4.66 mm.

Color. As elsewhere in the Caribbean, S. idios females had brick-red ovaries and embryos.

Hosts and ecology. In Barbados, S. idios was found in groups of several individuals (with numerous ovigerous females present) in Hyrtios cf. proteus ; it has been found in a similar host in Curaçao (Hultgren et al. 2010).

Distribution. Belize (Macdonald et al. 2006; Ríos & Duffy 2007), Curaçao (Hultgren et al. 2010), Barbados (this study).

Remarks. In Barbados, S. idios can be distinguished from the related species S. bousfieldi by the shape of the distal projection on the major chela, which is conical-shaped in S. idios and lacks the small secondary projection typically found in S. bousfieldi . These closely related species also appear to be limited to different hosts ( Hyrtios cf. proteus for S. idios , Agelas clathrodes for S. bousfieldi ).