Zuzalpheus

Taxobox
name = "Zuzalpheus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Crustacea
classis = Malacostraca
subclassis = Eumalacostraca
superordo = Eucarida
ordo = Decapoda
subordo = Pleocyemata
infraordo = Caridea
superfamilia = Alpheoidea
familia = Alpheidae
genus = "Zuzalpheus"
genus_authority = Ríos & Duffy, 2007
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = 34, see text

"Zuzalpheus" is a newly established genus of snapping shrimp of the family Alpheidae. 34 species are assigned to this genus, most of which were formerly placed in the genus "Synalpheus" [Ríos & Duffy (2007)] . Several of these species are notably eusocial [Duffy "et al." (2000)] .

Some authorsFact|date=July 2008 believe that "Zuzalpheus" was established prematurely for "Synalpheus gambarelloides" species group and its relatives, without a complete phylogenetic treatment of the rest of "Synalpheus" (which traditionally contained many other species groups), and using criteria of minor (not generic) importance. They conclude therefore that "Zuzalpheus" should be treated as a subgenus of "Synalpheus".

A detailed cladistic study of morphological characters found well-marked differences between the proposed two genera, with the group separated in "Zuzalpheus" clearly distinct in characters of the minor first walking legs (pereiopods), and usually distinct in some others: In all species of the "S. gambarelloides" group checked to date, there is a transverse setal comb on the back of the minor first pereopod dactyl, and the carpus is slender (longer than wide) and large (longer than half the length of the palm).Hermoso-Salazar "et al." (2008)]

Moreover in most if not all of the species placed in "Zuzalpheus", the stylocerite does not extends beyond the whole first segment of the first antennae, the scaphocerite blade is missing or vestigial, the fixed finger of the major first pereopod is shorter than the dactyl and the uropodal exopod have more than two teeth. While the authors of the 2008 analysis made no explicit comment on the status of the newly-proposed genus, they thus found the "S. gambarelloides" species group to be well-marked, and their results certainly harden the case for recognition of "Zuzalpheus" at least as a subgenus.

The species placed in "Zuzalpheus" occur mainly in the western Atlantic where their lineage probably originated, and to a lesser extent in the eastern Atlantic and Indian Ocean, and the East Pacific. It may thus be that the closure of the Isthmus of Panama in the Piacenzian (about 3 million years ago) was a key factor in separating the two lineages, as species referred to "Synalpheus sensu stricto" are most plentiful in the western Pacific.

pecies

*"Zuzalpheus agelas" (Pequegnat and Heard, 1979)
*"Zuzalpheus anasimus" (Chace, 1972)
*"Zuzalpheus androsi" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus barahonensis" (Armstrong, 1949)
*"Zuzalpheus bousfieldi" (Chace, 1972)
*"Zuzalpheus brevifrons" (Chace, 1972)
*"Zuzalpheus brooksi" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus carpenteri" (Macdonald and Duffy, 2006)
*"Zuzalpheus chacei" (Duffy, 1998)
*"Zuzalpheus dardeaui" Ríos & Duffy, 2007
*"Zuzalpheus disparodigitus" (Armstrong, 1949)
*"Zuzalpheus elizabethae" Ríos & Duffy, 2007
*"Zuzalpheus filidigitus" (Armstrong, 1949)
*"Zuzalpheus gambarelloides" (Nardo, 1847)
*"Zuzalpheus goodei" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus heardi" (Dardeau, 1984)
*"Zuzalpheus herricki" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus idios" Ríos & Duffy, 2007
*"Zuzalpheus kensleyi" Ríos & Duffy, 2007
*"Zuzalpheus longicarpus" (Herrick, 1891)
*"Zuzalpheus mcclendoni" (Coutière, 1910)
*"Zuzalpheus mulegensis" (Ríos, 1992)
*"Zuzalpheus occidentalis" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus osburni" (Schmitt, 1933)
*"Zuzalpheus pandionis" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus paraneptunus" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus pectiniger" (Coutière, 1907)
*"Zuzalpheus rathbunae" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus regalis" (Duffy, 1996)
*"Zuzalpheus ruetzleri" (Macdonald and Duffy 2006)
*"Zuzalpheus sanctithomae" (Coutière, 1909)
*"Zuzalpheus ul" Ríos & Duffy, 2007
*"Zuzalpheus williamsi" (Ríos and Duffy, 1999)
*"Zuzalpheus yano" Ríos & Duffy, 2007

Footnotes

References

* (1909): The American species of snapping shrimps of the genus "Synalpheus". "Proceedings of the United States National Museum" 36(1659): 1-93.
* (2000): Multiple Origins of Eusociality among Sponge-dwelling Shrimps ("Synalpheus"). "Evolution" 54(2): 503-516. doi|10.1111/j.0014-3820.2000.tb00053.x [http://www.vims.edu/bio/mobee/Duffyetal2000.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2008): Phylogenetic analysis of the Paulsoni species group (Decapoda: Alpheidae) from the American Pacific, with implications for the phylogenetic classification of the genus "Synalpheus". "Zootaxa" 1744: 19–30. [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01744p030f.pdf PDF abstract and first page] * aut|Ríos, Rubén & Duffy, J. Emmett (2007): 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). "Zootaxa" 1602: 1–89. [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01602p089.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2007): 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). "Zootaxa" 1602: 1–89. [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01602p089.pdf PDF fulltext]