New hosts and distribution records for bopyrid isopods parasitising alpheid shrimps (Decapoda, Alpheidae) in the SW Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Caribbean

Abstract

ABSTRACT Based on the examination of alpheid shrimps from the SW Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Caribbean, deposited in two scientific collections housed in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, we document for the first time Synalpheus curacaoensis, Alpheus cristulifrons and A. estuariensis as hosts of bopyrid isopods, and for the latter alpheid species is confirmed their distribution in Mexican coasts. Similarly, the bopyrids Capitetragonia alphei and Parabopyrella lata are recorded for the first time along coasts of Mexico. New hosts are reported for Bopyrione synalphei, on Synalpheus elizabethae; Parabopyrella mortenseni, on Alpheus normanni and A. cristulifrons; and Eophryxus subcaudalis on Synalpheus anasimus. The distribution range of Bopyrella harmopleon is extended and new localities are reported for B. synalphei, P. mortenseni and E. subcaudalis. Morphological remarks for the six bopyrid species are provided and reproductive data (fecundity and embryo size) are given for five of them.