Alpheus richpalmeri, a new species of snapping shrimp from the tropical eastern Atlantic (Malacostraca: Decapoda: Alpheidae)

Abstract

A new snapping shrimp, Alpheus richpalmeri sp. nov., is described based on three specimens collected in the muddy–rocky intertidal of São Tomé Island, Gulf of Guinea, tropical eastern Atlantic. The new species belongs to the Alpheus brevirostris (Olivier, 1811) species group, sharing a series of morphological features and a similar colour pattern with two Atlantic species of the group, e.g., Alpheus roblesi Bracken-Grissom and Felder, 2014 and Alpheus ulalae Bracken-Grissom and Felder, 2014, as well as with the Indo-West Pacific Alpheus platyunguiculatus (Banner, 1953). The new species may have been previously reported from the tropical eastern Atlantic by A. Crosnier and J. Forest (1966. Ann. Inst. Oceanogr. Monaco, 44: 199–314) under the name Alpheus floridanus floridanus Kingsley, 1878, which is clearly different from the lectotype of Alpheus floridanus Kingsley, 1878 upon which H.D. Bracken-Grissom and D.L. Felder (2014. Zootaxa, 3895(4): 451–491) based their redescription of this species. The form previously known as Alpheus floridanus var. africana Balss, 1916, or Alpheus floridanus africanus, is elevated to full species rank as Alpheus africanus stat. nov., based on morphological differences and geographical separation from A. floridanus.