Synalpheus brevifrons Chace, 1972
Synalpheus brevifrons is a sponge-dwelling Caribbean snapping shrimp. Like other members of the Gambarelloides species group (within the genus Synalpheus), S. brevifrons has a minor chela (claw) with a thick brush of setae and a streamlined body well-adapted to life in the interior canals of sponges.
Synalpheus brevifrons is a member of the Gambarelloides species group within the genus Synalpheus. This species name is derived from the Latin terms for short ("brevis") and front ("frons") that together describe a key character distinguishing S. brevifrons-- the characteristic "short" form of the rostrum and the ocular hoods in this species. Type locality: Dominica (Chace, 1972), types stored at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM). Holotype: USNM 135371, allotype: none.
Synalpheus brevifrons lives primarily in the interior canals of sponges (phylum Porifera) in and around coral reefs.
Associate of sponges (phylum Porifera), primarily a soft, filmy, grey-brown sponge that lines the cavities of coral rubble and the sponge Aiolochroia crassa (Macdonald et al. 2006, Rios and Duffy 2007, Macdonald and Duffy 2009).
Like most species in the Alpheidae family, Synalpheus brevifrons are typically found in equal sex ratios, most often heterosexual pairs (Macdonald et al. 2009).
Like most members of the Gambarelloides species group, Synalpheus brevifrons 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 3.2 mm; females, 3.0 mm (Rios and Duffy 2007). Color: Body translucent to milky-white color, distal ends of major chela with traces of bright gold, ovaries and embryos green (in Belize and Jamaica: Rios and Duffy 2007, Macdonald et al. 2009)..
Zuzalpheus brevifrons (Rios and Duffy 2007).
Synalpheus brevifrons is a member of the Gambarelloides species group (within the genus Synalpheus), which is monophyletic in the Western Atlantic (Morrison et al. 2004), and a model system for examining the evolution of social behavior (Duffy and Macdonald 2010).
Sequenced in Morrison et al. 2004 (as brefBE01); sequences available in GenBank for 16S mtDNA (AY344740 ) and COI mtDNA (AY344687).
Western Atlantic: Dominica (Chace 1972); Belize (Macdonald et al. 2006; Ríos & Duffy 2007); Jamaica (Macdonald et al. 2009)..