PALAEMONIDAE) OF THE NORTHWEST ATLANTIC. I. THE GENUS NEOPONTONZDES HOLTHUIS, 195 1, WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF N. CHACEZ, NEW SPECIES, AND THE ERECTION OF PSEUDOPONTONZDES, NEW GENUS

• Main Authors: To Receive N. Prznczpzs Criales, Richard W. Heard
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hippolyte; Lamarck; Pacific; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.376.5568; http://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/25678/25678.pdf

Based on examination of specimens from the Florida Keys and from museum collections, the described species of the genus Neopontonides Holthuis are briefly reviewed and N. chacei, new species, is described from shallow waters of the Caribbean area. Neopontonides chacei has symmetrical second pereiopods, which distinguish it from the other described species of the genus. It is a symbiont of the gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia americana. Two hippolytid shrimps, Hippolyte nicholsoni Chace and Tozeuma sp., also were found associated with P. americana. The association of the Pacific species N. dentiger Holthuis with a gorgonian host is confirmed and Leptogorgia setacea is reported as a gorgonian host for N. beaufortensis Borradaile. Illustrations and a key for separating N. beaufortensis, N. chacei, and N. dentiger are presented. Based on the absence of an exopodal flagellum on maxilliped 1, distinctive differences in armature of antenna 2, and other morphological and ecological criteria, N. principis Criales cannot be accommodated by Neopontonides and a new genus Pseudopontonides is erected to receive it. The new genus appears to be most closely related to Pontonides Borradaile. The taxonomic status of Pontonides and Pseudopontonides is briefly discussed. An artificial key to these two genera and their species, and to other related genera that lack exopodal flagella on their first maxillipeds, is presented. Three species of the pontoniine shrimp genus Neopontonides Holthuis, 195 1, have been described. The type-species, N. beaufortensis (Borradaile, 1920) is a northwestern Atlantic species reported from North Carolina southward through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (Williams, 1984). It has been reported as a commensal or an associate of the gorgonians Leptogorgia virgulata (Lamarck) and Eunicea tourneforti Milne Edwards and Haime (see Patton, 1972; Criales, 1980). A Pacific species, N. dentiger Holthuis, 195 1, is currently known from