Synalpheus charon (Heller, 1861)
Synalpheus charon is an Indo-West Pacific and Indian Ocean snapping shrimp first described from the Red Sea (ABRS 2009). For more details, see ABRS (2009): http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/a....
Synalpheus charon was first described as Alpheus charon by Heller (1862) from the Red Sea (ABRS 2009). For additional descriptions, see Banner and Banner (1975), Chace (1988).
This species lives primarily on living coral, specifically the species Pocillopora meandrina (where it is orange-red in color), Porites sp., as well as Stylophora pistillata and Seriatopora sp. in Australia (Banner and Banner 1975).
Maximum body size is 7 mm carapace length (Chace 1988). This species can be readily distinguished by the dactyli of the thoracic lege, which have the smaller acute upper unguish with a lateral flange and the heavier inferior unguis with a pocket-like cavity (Banner and Banner 1975). Several subsepecies and species have been described from specimens which vary in the rostral region; Banner and Banner (1975) synonomized most of those with S. charon. Color has been reported as bright red or orange.
Alpheus charon (Heller 1861); Synalpheus charon charon (Banner 1956); Synalpheus charon obscurus (Banner 1956); Synalpheus prolificus (Bate 1888); S. helleri (DeMan 1911).
Indo-West Pacific and Indian Ocean: widespread; Red Sea to Pacific Mexico, Japan to the Great Barrier Reef (Banner and Banner 1975, Poupin 2008).