Synalpheus pandionis Coutière

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 : 33

Synalpheus pandionis Coutière

Color plates 4C, D, 5A

Material examined. Jamaica: 9 non-ovigerous individuals, 7 ovigerous females, ( VIMS 08JAM5901-15), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of Lissodendoryx sp. Non-ovigerous individual, ovigerous female, ( VIMS 08JAM9001,02), Columbus Park, Discovery Bay, from canals of Lissodendoryx sp. MaxCL ovigerous female: 6.75 mm. MaxCL non-ovigerous individual: 6.08 mm.

Color. Faint orange, often with a pale reddish tinge; distal portion of major chela brilliant orange; embryos and ovaries either green or bright orange.

Hosts and ecology. Synalpheus pandionis was only found in two specimens of a free-standing, very softbodied sponge within the genus Lissodendoryx . In Belize, it was found most frequently in Lissodendoryx cf. strongylata van Soest, and was typically found as a single pair of shrimp.

Distribution. Bahamas ( Lemaitre 1984); Cuba ( Martínez Iglesias and García Raso 1999); Virgin Islands ( Coutière 1909; Chace 1972); Gulf of Mexico ( Dardeau, 1984); Belize (Macdonald et al. 2006; Ríos and Duffy 2007); Discovery Bay, Jamaica (this study).

Remarks. Synalpheus pandionis is one of a complex of morphologically similar species that includes Synalpheus ul Ríos and Duffy, Synalpheus dardeaui Ríos and Duffy and Synalpheus yano Ríos and Duffy. Specimens of S. pandionis from Jamaica superficially resemble S. dardeaui , another large orange species that commonly occurs in Lissodendoryx colombiensis in Belize. However, all individuals collected in Jamaica possessed square ocular hoods, unequal sized distal fingers on the minor first chela, and uropod characteristics typical of S. pandionis (see Ríos and Duffy 2007 for more details). While embryo and ovary color varied among females, this variation did not seem to consistently coincide with other morphological differences.