Alpheus obesomanus Dana, 1852
Alpheus obesomanus is an Indo-West Pacific and Indian Ocean snapping shrimp that belongs to the Obesomanus species group within the genus Alpheus (Banner and Banner 1982).
Alpheus obesomanus belongs to the Obesomanus species group within the genus Alpheus (Banner and Banner 1982). Type locality: Fiji Archipelago (Dana 1852). For additional descriptions, see See Banner and Banner (1982, 1966) for a detailed description of how Alpheus obesomanus differs from other species in the Obesomanus species group; see also Chace (1988). Anker (2001) questioned the separation of A. obesomanus and A. lutini (the latter is currently a synonym of A. obesomanus).
This species lives in roofed galleries excavated in live or dead coral, or in encrusting coralline algae; galleries/tubes are perforated by small holes or "ports" that delineate the extent of the tunnel system, and enable communication with the outside surroundings (Banner and Banner 1967). Kropp (1987) reported A. obesomanus living in pairs in tunnels in the coral Millepora platyphylla.
Maximum body size is 8 mm (carapace length) (Chace 1988). Morphologically similar to other species in the Obesomanus species group (e.g., A. malleodigitus, A. microstylus) but can be separated by features of the antennular peduncles, small chela, and legs (Banner and Banner 1982).
Alpheus obeso-manus (Dana 1852); Alpheus lutini (Coutiere 1905); Alpheus species #2 (Banner 1956); not Alpheus obesomanus (sensu Pocock 1890, = A. cristulifrons); Alpheus obesomanus japonicus (Ortmann 1890).
Indo-West Pacific: from the Red Sea and Madagascar, east to the Society Islands, Australia, and Japan; not reported from Hawaii (Banner and Banner 1982, Chace 1988).