Palaemonella aliska Marin, 2008

Anker, Arthur & Grave, Sammy De, 2019, Further records of burrow-associated palaemonid shrimps (Decapoda: Palaemonidae), Zootaxa 4612 (1), pp. 145-150 : 146-148

Palaemonella aliska Marin, 2008

( Figs 3–4 )

Material examined. 1 male (pocl 2.4 mm), OUMNH. ZC . 2018-06-02, Solomon Islands, New Georgia, near Munda, Hopei Island , shallow sandflat near seagrass bed, 0–0.5 m, in burrow of Alpheus sp., suction (yabby) pump, leg. A. Anker, 14.IX.2016 (fcn SOL-107); 1 ov. female (pocl 4.4 mm), OUMNH. ZC . 2018-07-01, Australia, Queensland, Heron Island , southern side, shallow reef sandflat with sparse coral rubble, 0–0.5 m, in burrow (presumably of Alpheus sp. aff. bellulus), suction (yabby) pump, leg. A. Anker, 28.IX.2016 (fcn HE-012) ; 1 male (pocl 4.0 mm), 1 female (pocl 4.2 mm), OUMNH .

Host. All present specimens of P. aliska were collected from snapping shrimp burrows. The Heron Island specimens were collected on a shallow sand flat populated by Alpheus sp. aff. bellulus, of which one individual was collected (although with loss of both chelipeds, see Fig. 4C ), thereby confirming the association noted by Marin (2014) at the Vietnamese type locality. Although no gobiid fish was recovered from the burrows in the Solomon Islands and Great Barrier Reef, it was observed in the field that at least some of the burrows were inhabited by gobies.

Distribution. Palaemonella aliska was previously only known from the type series from Nha Trang Bay, Vietnam. The present records from the Solomon Islands and southern Great Barrier Reef off Queensland, Australia, considerably enlarge its recorded distribution in the western Pacific. In this respect, it appears useful to re-iterate that records under this name from other areas, which appeared in some popular identification guides ( Kuiter & Debelius 2009; Humann & De- Loach 2010; Minemizu 2013), actually refer to the related species, Palaemonella shirakawai , associated with jawfishes ( Okuno 2017).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Palaemonella aliska Marin, 2008.A) Carapace, frontal margin, female (pocl 4.2), OUMNH.ZC.2018-07-02; B) Rostrum, male (pocl 4.0), OUMNH.ZC.2018-07-02; C) Same, ov. female (pocl 4.4), OUMNH.ZC.2018-07-01. Scale bar indicates 1 mm.

FIGURE 4. A) and B) Palaemonella aliska Marin, 2008 from Heron Island, Australia.A) Male (pocl 4.0 mm), OUMNH.ZC.2018-07- 02; B) Ov. female (pocl 4.4 mm), OUMNH.ZC.2018-07-01. C) Alpheus sp. aff. bellulus Miya & Miyake, 1969, presumed host of P. aliska in Heron Island, Queensland, Australia; specimen without chelipeds. Photos by A. Anker.