Alpheus migrans Lewinsohn & Holthuis, 1978 (Decapoda, Caridea, Alpheidae): Burrow morphology and first record from the Red Sea

During an actuopalaeontological study numerous resin casts were made in the Bay of Safaga (Red Sea, Egypt). This yielded, among others, several burrow replicas of Alpheus migrans Lewinsohn & Holthuis, 1978 (Decapoda, Alpheidae), a suspected Lessepsian migrant first described from the eastern Mediterranean. In addition, one specimen was captured while casting, a second was entombed in one of the resin casts. The burrows have the general shape of a three-dimensional, dichotomous system modified by a reticulate pattern. They consist of shallower primary U’s connected by deeper secondary U’s, have up to 6 openings at the surface and reach down to a maximum depth of 70 mm. This is the first record of this species from the Red Sea, where it occurs abundantly in muddy sediments between 34 and 36 m water depth.