The qualitative and quantitative monthly composition and the annual temporal changes in a shallow (3·3–6·3 m) community of Crustacea: Decapoda associated with soft bottoms (very fine–muddy sand) and the seaweed Caulerpa prolifera in the south of Spain (Valdelagrana Beach in the Bay of Cadiz) has been studied for two years from February 1994 to January 1996. This community showed a similar pattern in both analysed cycles and could be characterized by a change or succession in the abundances of two groups of species: in autumn–winter Hippolyte inermis and Hippolyte varians (species associated with seaweeds); and in spring–summer: Philocheras monacanthus, Diogenes pugilator (characteristic of sandy bottoms) and Macropodia parva. The results of the ordination analysis of monthly samples is related to the absence or abundance of these dominant species although it does not define the two seasonal groups. The analysis of monthly richness, equitability, diversity and k-dominance curves, during the two years, showed a stable and rich community (with more than 6100 specimens caught belonging to 49 species) despite the human influence and the proximity of the Guadalete River.
The present study reports the occurrence of several specimens of the African caridean shrimp Lysmata uncicornis Holthuis and Maurin, 1952 in the NE Atlantic coast (Gulf of Cadiz, Spain and the Algarve, Portugal). Lysmata uncicornis is a poorly studied species that has been originally described from the Atlantic waters of Morocco, where it was first collected inside the port of Casablanca in a rocky bottom at 4-5 m depth. While no scientific publication has previously reported this species outside the waters of Morocco, several specimens have been collected in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Cadiz and the Algarve. This species may be able to expand successfully northward along European waters, probably favoured by global warming. It is possible that this expansion may also be enhanced through the marine aquarium trade. Recently, Lysmata arvoredensis Giraldes, Macedo, Brandão, Baeza and Freire, 2018 a new species of shrimp from the south coast of Brazil was described. However, morphological and genetic comparisons revealed no differences between L. uncicornis and L. arvoredensis. Therefore, L. arvoredensis should be considered as a junior synonym of L. uncicornis. While L. uncicornis may well be an amphi-Atlantic species, such as L. grabhami (Gordon 1935), for now, the introduction of L. uncicornis in Brazilian waters cannot be ruled out.
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