Synalpheus mcclendoni Coutière, 1910
Synalpheus mcclendoni is a sponge-dwelling Caribbean snapping shrimp, with a streamlined body well-adapted to life in the interior canals of sponges. Widespread throughout the Caribbean (see Distribution), S. mcclendoni occurs in a range of color morphs and sponge hosts.
Synalpheus mcclendoni is a member of the Gambarelloides species group within the genus Synalpheus. Named after Dr. J.F. McClendon, who was the first to collect this species. Type locality: Dry Tortugas, Florida (Coutière, 1910), types stored at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM). Type: USNM 40018.
Synalpheus mcclendoni lives primarily in the interior canals of sponges (phylum Porifera) in and around coral reefs.
Associate of sponges (phylum Porifera), primarily the sponge species Agelas clathrodes, Auletta c.f. sycinularia, Spheciospongia vesparium, Hyattella intestinalis, and Aiolochroia crassa (Macdonald et al. 2006, Rios and Duffy 2007, Macdonald et al. 2009, Hultgren et al. in press).
Like most species in the Alpheidae family, Synalpheus mcclendoni are found in equal sex ratios, typically living in heterosexual pairs.
Like most members of the Gambarelloides species group, Synalpheus mcclendoni has a streamlined body adapted to living in sponge canals and a thick brush of setae on the minor chela (claw). Maximum body size (carapace length, or CL) of males is 3.9 mm; females, 3.1 mm (Macdonald et al. 2009). Color: Body translucent; major chela typically yellowish to orangish, sometimes with a white crescent, or red in distal regions with transverse bands of blue pigment proximal to the red area (Rios and Duffy 2007, Macdonald et al. 2009) .
Synalpheus macclendoni (Dardeau 1984); Zuzalpheus mcclendoni (Rios and Duffy 2007).
Sequenced in Morrison et al. 2004 (as maccPA01); sequences available in GenBank for 16S mtDNA (AY344760 ) and COI mtDNA (AY344703).
Western Atlantic: Western Atlantic: Dry Tortugas, Florida, USA (Coutière 1910), Bahamas (Dardeau 1984); Cuba (Martínez Iglesias and García Raso 1999); St. Lucia, Tobago Cays, and Yucatan peninsula of Mexico (Chace 1972); San Blas Islands, Panamá (Duffy 1992), Belize (Rios and Duffy 2007); Barbados (Schmitt 1924); Jamaica (Macdonald et al. 2009); Curacao (Hultgren et al. in press).