Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979

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 : 226-227

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.2372.1.20
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5314039
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3E7387F3-0655-F673-A9A5-FA80976A87E5
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979
status

Treatment

Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979 View in CoL

(Pl. 1A–C)

Material examined. Curaçao: 5 ov. females, 12 non-ov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU3006–7, 3801–4, 3903), Caracas Baai, in the canals of Agelas cf. clathrodes . 1 ov. female, 3 non-ov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU12701, 13003), Eastpunt, in canals of A. cf. clathrodes . 3 ov. females, 3 non-ov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU703–4, 08CU1401, 08CU1701–2, 08CU1902), Piscadera Baai, in canals of A. cf. clathrodes . 1 ov. female, 2 non-ov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU8702), Piscadera Baai east, in the canals of A. cf. clathrodes . 8 ov. females, 11 nonov. individuals ( VIMS 08CU7601, 8202, 8205–6, 8215), Scary Steps, in the canals of A. cf. clathrodes . Largest ov. female, CL 4.6 mm, largest non-ov. individual, CL 3.8 mm.

Color. Orange, with orange-tipped major chela, similar to specimens reported from other locations. Ovaries and embryos orange or green in ovigerous females.

Hosts and ecology. In Curaçao, as in all other known locations, S. agelas was a specialist inhabiting only sponges in the genus Agelas , in this case canals of Agelas cf. clathrodes . In Curaçao, S. agelas typically occurs in heterosexual pairs (sometimes with juveniles), often sharing an individual sponge with Synalpheus carpenteri Macdonald and Duffy and Synalpheus mcclendoni Coutière.

Distribution. Florida Keys, USA ( Morrison et al. 2004), Bahamas ( Dardeau 1984), Gulf of Mexico ( Pequegnat & Heard 1979; Dardeau 1984), Puerto Rico ( Dardeau 1984), Cuba ( Martínez Iglesias & García Raso 1999), Belize (Macdonald et al. 2006; Rios & Duffy 2007), Jamaica ( Macdonald et al. 2009), and Curaçao (this study).

Remarks. Unlike S. agelas collected in other locations, which typically have females with orange embryos and ovaries, most individuals collected in Curaçao had green embryos (sometimes verging on brownish or with an orange tint), and orange or green ovaries (see Plates 1A–C View PLATE 1 ).