Synalpheus bousfieldi Chace, 1972
Synalpheus bousfieldi is a sponge-dwelling Caribbean snapping shrimp, with a streamlined body well-adapted to life in the interior canals of sponges. S. bousfieldi occurs in a wide range of host sponges, primarily in the sponge Hyattella intestinalis. Although S. bousfieldi has been reported from many locations throughout the Caribbean (see Distribution), older records should be viewed with caution, as recent taxonomic work has uncovered many new Synalpheus species with close morphological similarities to S. bousfieldi (Macdonald and Duffy 2006, Macdonald et al. 2009).
Synalpheus bousfieldi belongs to the Gambarelloides species group (Chace, 1972) within the genus Synalpheus. Named after E.L. Bousfield, Chief Zoologist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences, Canada. Taxonomic status valid: recently rediagnosed by Macdonald and Duffy (2006); see Chace (1972) for original description, see also Dardeau (1984), Macdonald et al. (2009). Type locality: Bahía del Espírutu Santo, Quintana Roo, Mexico (Chace, 1972), types stored at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM). Holotype: USNM 135369, allotype: none.
Synalpheus bousfieldi lives primarily in the interior canals of sponges (phylum Porifera) in and around coral reefs.
Associate of sponges (phylum Porifera), primarily the sponge species Hyattella intestinalis, Agelas clathrodes; occasionally Hymeniacidon caerulea, Hymeniacidon amphilecta, Lissodendoryx sp., and Pseudoceratina crassa (Rios and Duffy 2007, Macdonald and Duffy 2006, Hultgren et al. in press).
Like most species in the Alpheidae family, Synalpheus bousfieldi occur in equal sex ratios, typically in heterosexual pairs (Rios and Duffy 2007).
Like most members of the Gambarelloides species group, Synalpheus bousfieldi 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, 3.8 mm (Chace, 1972). Color: Body non-descript, distal end of major chela brownish, sometimes with black tips; ovaries and embryos olive green, to orange, to chestnut brown (Rios and Duffy 2007, Hultgren et al. in press).
Zuzalpheus bousfieldi (Rios and Duffy 2007).
Sequenced in Bracken et al. 2009.
Western Atlantic: Bahamas (Dardeau 1984); Cuba (Martínez Iglesias and García Raso 1999); Gulf of Mexico (Dardeau 1984); Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico (Chace 1972); Belize (Macdonald and Duffy 2006, Ríos and Duffy 2007); possibly Brazil (Christofferson 1979); possibly Jamaica (Macdonald et al. 2009); Curaçao (Hultgren et al. in press).