A review of the sponge‑dwelling snapping shrimp from Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, with description of Zuzalpheus, new genus, and six new species (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae)

Abstract

We review the taxonomy of sponge-dwelling shrimp in the “Gambarelloides species group” within the genus Synalpheus Bate 1888, an informal but widely recognized group that is largely endemic to the western Atlantic and contains the majority of Synalpheus species in that region. The validity of most species described from the western Atlantic is reevaluated based on extensive new material from Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, and on examination of types of most described species. Twenty-eight species, including all those historically considered as part of the Gambarelloides group, are herein removed from Synalpheus and transferred to Zuzalpheus, n. gen., which is diagnosed by two synapomorphies: the dense brush of curved setae on the minor first pereopod, and the mesial lamellae on the coxae of the 3 rd pereopods. Six new species are described (Zuzalpheus dardeaui, Z. elizabethae, Z. idios, Z. kensleyi, Z. ul, Z. yano) and Z. osburni (Schmitt 1933) n. comb. is removed from synonymy with Synalpheus goodei. An identification key to all 34 species of West Atlantic Zuzalpheus is presented, as are known host associations, and color plates of most species.