Synalpheus idios ( Rios & Duffy, 2007 )

Hultgren, Kristin M., Macdonald Iii, Kenneth S. & Duffy, J. Emmett, 2010, Sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps of Curaçao, with descriptions of three new species *, Zootaxa 2372 (1), pp. 221-262 : 240

Synalpheus idios ( Rios & Duffy, 2007)

(Pl. 4E–F)

Material examined. Curaçao: 5 ov. females, 11 non-ov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU10301, 10901–2), Caracas Baai, from the canals of Spongia sp. 21 ov. females, 27 non-ov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU901–16, 918–9), Piscadera Baai, from the canals of Spongia sp. 19 ov. females, 36 non-ov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU4306–11, 8801–4), Piscadera Baai east, from the canals of Spongia sp. Largest ov. female, CL 5.6 mm, largest non-ov. individual, CL 5.7 mm.

Color. Non-descript, sometimes with a pale milky tinge, with developing embryos and ovaries deep scarlet to brick red.

Hosts and ecology. In Curaçao, Synalpheus idios was found in groups of several individuals (with numerous ovigerous females present) in Spongia sp.

Distribution. Belize (Macdonald et al. 2006; Rios & Duffy 2007), Curaçao (this study).

Remarks. Synalpheus idios collected in Curaçao strongly resemble the type series described from Belize. In Curaçao, live specimens of S. idios can be easily distinguished by coloration of embryos in ovigerous females (dark brick to scarlet red) and host association ( S. idios appears to be limited to Spongia sp. in this locality). S. idios can be distinguished from the related species S. bousfieldi in Curaçao by the shape of the distal projection on the major chela, which forms a blunt tubercle in S. idios and nearly always has a small secondary projection in S. bousfieldi .