New records and description of two new species of carideans shrimps from Bahía Santa María-La Reforma lagoon, Gulf of California, Mexico (Crustacea, Caridea, Alpheidae and Processidae)

Abstract

Two new species of the family Alpheidae: Alpheus margaritae sp. n. and Leptalpheus melendezensis sp. n. are described from Santa María-La Reforma, coastal lagoon, SE Gulf of California. Alpheus margaritae sp. n. is closely related to A. antepaenultimus and A. mazatlanicus from the Eastern Pacific and to A. chacei from the Western Atlantic, but can be differentiated from these by a combination of characters, especially the morphology of the scaphocerite and the first pereopods. Leptalpheus melendezensis sp. n. resembles L. mexicanus but can be easily differentiated because L. melendezensis sp. n. has the anterior margin of the carapace broadly rounded and has only one spine on the mesial margin of ischium in the major cheliped, versus an acute rostrum and an unarmed major cheliped. Additionally, a phylogenetic analysis was used to explore the relationships of these two new taxa. These results show that Alpheus margaritae sp. n. and Leptalpheus melendezensis sp. n. are indeed related to the species against which we are comparing them, and demonstrate that they can be considered as different species. Additional specimens of Leptalpheus cf. mexicanus, Ambidexter panamensis and A. swifti are recorded for the first time in the Santa María-La Reforma coastal lagoon.

First zoeal stage morphology of Alpheus carlae and A. intrinsecus (Decapoda, Caridea, Alpheidae) obtained in the laboratory

“…With more than 313 valid species (e.g. De Grave & Fransen, 2011; Salgado-Barragán et al ., 2017; Komai & Ohtomi, 2018; Dehghani et al ., 2019), of which 34 were registered in Brazilian waters (Soledade & Almeida, 2013; Anker et al ., 2016; Almeida et al ., 2018), the snapping shrimp genus Alpheus Fabricius, 1798 is the most representative of the family Alpheidae, and the second most speciose genus of infraorder Caridea Dana, 1852, after Caridina H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (in H. Milne Edwards, 1834–1840) (De Grave & Fransen, 2011; Soledade & Almeida, 2013). Their representatives occupy a wide variety of environments, from deep sea to shallow waters, inhabiting from coral reefs to the estuarine intertidal region (Bauer, 2004; Anker et al ., 2006).…”