Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979

Paixão, Pedro Henrique, Terossi, Mariana, Pasinatto, Karmine, Bochini, Gabriel Lucas & Almeida, Alexandre Oliveira, 2025, Shrimps of the genus Synalpheus Spence Bate, 1888 (Decapoda: Alpheidae) from Northeast Brazil region, Zootaxa 5666 (1), pp. 1-52 : 7

Synalpheus agelas Pequegnat & Heard, 1979

Material examined: Pernambuco—Continental Shelf off Recife: 1 M, 27.ii.2018, 8°13′52.1′′S 34°37′39.1′′W, 50.8 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 7049 ; 1 M, same data as DZ/ UFRGS 7049 , in sponge, MOUFPE 21542 ; Fernando de Noronha : 2 M, 6 F, Ressureta, 19.vi.2019, 03°49.191′S 32°23.847′W, 8.0 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 6710 ; 2 M, 3 F, Cagarras , 25.vi.2022, 03°50.933′S 32°26.178′W, 13.0 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 7025 ; 1 M, 3 F, Ressureta , 25.vi.2022, 03°50.933′S 32°26.178′W, 8.0 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 7028 ; 3 M, 3 OV, 5 F, Buraco do Inferno , 26.vi.2022, 03°48.968′S 32°23.577′W, 12.0 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 7029 ; 10 M, 3 OV, 6 F, Ilha do Meio , 26.vi.2022, 03°49.015′S 32°23.549′W, 11.0 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 7035 ; 6 M, 4 OV, 2 F, Ponta da Sapata , 30.vi.2022, 03º51.892′S 32º27.965′W, 11.0 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 7040 ; 9 M, 4 OV, 1 F, Laje Dois Irmãos , 30.vi.2022, 03°51.859′S 32°27.934′W, 17.0 m depth, in sponge, DZ / UFRGS 7044 .

Description: Pequegnat & Heard (1979), Ríos & Duffy (2007), and Anker et al. (2012).

Distribution: Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Belize, Jamaica, Panama, Curaçao, Barbados, and Brazil (Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, seamounts of North Chain, Trindade & Martin Vaz Archipelago, and from Amapá to Espírito Santo) ( Coelho-Filho 2006; Ríos & Duffy, 2007; Hultgren et al. 2011; Anker et al. 2012, 2016; this study).

Ecology: In coral reefs, coral rubble, and similar habitats in sublittoral areas with sponges abundant; commonly inhabiting sponges of the genus Agelas Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 ( Anker et al. 2016); forming heterosexual pairs; 5– 80 m ( Anker et al. 2016; this study). Sampled at continental shelf off Recife (DZ/UFRGS 7049; MOUFPE 21542) in a substrate of sediment, macroalgae, coral rubble, and sponges.

Remarks: The examined material was sampled at a depth of 8 m in Fernando de Noronha and between 50.8 and 80 m on the continental shelf off Recife, extending the bathymetric range of this species from 56 m ( Anker et al. 2016) to 80 m. One specimen (male, DZ/UFRGS 7044) exhibited a slight morphological variation in the fixed finger of the major chela, which was much shorter than the dactylus (vs. slightly shorter in length in Pequegnat & Heard 1979) (see Pequegnat & Heard 1979, Figs. 3A, B ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Substrates where the specimens of Synalpheus Spence Bate, 1888 analyzed in this study were found.A, Rhodoliths; B, Sediment; C, Sponge where the colony of S. brooksi Coutière, 1909 was found; D, Sponge morphotype where the possible communal groups of S. hoetjesi Hultgren, Macdonald & Duffy, 2010 and S. ul (Ríos & Duffy, 2007) were found, arrows indicate the presence of shrimps. Photos A–D: P.H. Paixão.