Synalpheus kensleyi ( Ríos & Duffy, 2007 )

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 : 30

Synalpheus kensleyi ( Ríos & Duffy, 2007) ( Figs. 17 , 18 )

Material examined: Pernambuco—Continental Shelf off Recife: 1 M, 1 OV, 07.ii.2018, 8°08′53.0′′S 34°34′07.4′W, 68.0 m depth, in coral rubble, MOUFPE 21869 ; 1 M, 07.ii.2018, 8°08′44.2′′S 34°34′23.2′′W, 55.0 m depth, DZ / UFRGS 7059 ; Ilha de Itamaracá : 1 M, Forte Orange, 28.iv.1950, in sponge, MOUFPE 15807 .

Description: Ríos & Duffy (2007).

Distribution: Belize (Carrie Bow Cay), Dominican Republic (Bayahibe), Panama (Bocas del Toro), and Brazil (Pernambuco) ( Ríos & Duffy, 2007; Anker et al. 2012; this study).

Ecology: Associated with the sponges H. intestinalis , H. caerulea , and an unidentified yellow tubular sponge; in heterosexual pairs; shallow reefs with abundance of sponges; depths up to 2– 68 m ( Ríos & Duffy, 2007; Anker et al. 2012; this study). Sampled in coral rubble and sponges.

Remarks: Synalpheus kensleyi is characterized by the rostrum narrower and slightly longer than the orbital teeth, the dorsal margin of the basicerite bearing an acute spine, by its ventrolateral tooth reaching half-length of the distolateral tooth of the scaphocerite ( Fig. 17A ), by the major chela massive, with dactylus slightly exceeding the fixed finger and the distodorsal margin of the palm with a prominent tubercle with a spine directed downwards (see Ríos & Duffy, 2007, fig. 20A). The species is considered rare and has been previously recorded only in the Caribbean ( Anker et al. 2012; De Grave & Anker 2017). In this study, we provide the first record from the southwestern Atlantic. A male specimen from the continental shelf off Recife (MOUFPE 21869) has a more globose major chela, with dactylus noticeably longer than the fixed finger and more squared/rounded in shape (vs. more cylindrical/ rectangular major chela, with dactylus slightly longer than the fixed finger and more elongated) (for comparison see Figs. 17B, C and illustration of type material by Ríos & Duffy, 2007, fig. 20). The present study expands the known bathymetric distribution for the species from 2 ( Ríos & Duffy, 2007) to 68 m.

Figures

FIGURE 17. Synalpheus kensleyi (Ríos & Duffy, 2007): male from the continental shelf off Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil [MOUFPE 21869]. A, frontal region, dorsal view; B, major chela, left side, mesial view; C, same, lateral view; D, minor chela, right side, mesial view; E, same, lateral view; F, second pereiopod, right side, lateral view; G, third pereiopod, right side, lateral view. Scale bars: A, D–G, 0.5 mm; B, C, 1 mm.

FIGURE 18. Synalpheus kensleyi (Ríos & Duffy, 2007): male from the continental shelf off Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil [MOUFPE 21869]. A, pleon, left view; B, right uropod, dorsal view; C, left uropod, dorsal view; D, third maxilliped, right side, lateral view; E, telson, dorsal view. Scale bars: A–C, E, 0.5 mm; D, 0.2 mm.