title: A new echiuran-associated snapping shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae) from the Indo-West Pacific.
abstract: Alpheus echiurophilus sp. nov. (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea: Alpheidae) is described based on material from Japan (Ryukyu Islands) and Vietnam (Nha Trang Bay); an additional, morphologically slightly different specimen from Madagascar (Nosy-Bé) is preliminarily referred to A. cf. echiurophilus sp. nov., awaiting collection of additional material and/or genetic comparison. All specimens of the new species were collected from burrows of thalassematid echiurans, either on intertidal and shallow subtidal sand-mud flats or in the mixed sand-gravel-rock intertidal. Alpheus echiurophilus sp. nov. belongs to the A. leviusculus species group, being morphologically closest to the Indo-West Pacific A. leviusculus Dana, 1852, A. hululensis Coutière, 1905, A. ladronis Banner, 1956, and the western Atlantic A. zimmermani Anker, 2007. The new species can be separated from all of them by a combination of morphological characters and also appears to have a diagnostic colouration.
authors: Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI), National University of Singapore, 18 Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119227, Republic of Singapore; Email: arthuranker7@yahoo.com.
authors: Arthur
authors: A
authors: Anker
authors: Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba, 955-2 Aoba-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8682 Japan; Email: unknown.
authors: Tomoyuki
authors: T
authors: Komai
authors: A.N. Severtzov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospekt 33, 117071, Moscow, Russian Federation; Email: unknown.
authors: Ivan N
authors: IN
authors: Marin
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D033364:Decapoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D009929:Organ Size