Alpheus antepaenultimus Kim and Abele, 1988.
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| Original Description | Alpheus antepaenultimus Kim and Abele, 1988: 103, fig. 44. |
| Classification | Arthropoda: Crustacea: Malacostraca: Decapoda: Alpheidae. |
| Synonymy | None. |
| Type Locality | Amador, Panama (symbol |
| Type Material | USNM 229943 (holotype), 229944 (paratype), in good condition. |
| Common Name | Mangrove snapping shrimp. |
| Taxonomic Status | Valid. |
| Geographic Distribution | Tropical eastern Pacific [EP]: Costa Rica and Panama (see map). |
| Frequency | Relatively common in suitable habitats but difficult to collect. |
| Habitat | Mangroves. |
| Depth Range | Intertidal to 5 m, sand-mud. |
| Life History and Behavior | Lives (most probably in pairs) in shallow burrows in mud or muddy sand. |
| Related Species | Alpheus "paenultimantus" Anker et al., in prep. [EP]; A. chacei Carvacho, 1979 [WA]; A. antepaenultimus can be separated from A. "paenultimantus" only genetically and by color pattern; and from A. chacei by the presence of spines on the ventral margin of both chelipeds(see comparison photos). |
| Size | Body length to about 25 mm. |
| Color Pattern | See photo. |
| Molecular Barcode | GenBank number AF309875, AF309876, AF308989, EF532618 , EF532619. |
| Remarks | |
| Major References | Kim and Abele, 1988 [original description and illustrations]; Anker et al., in prep. [comparison with A. chacei and A. "paenultimantus", color photos]. |


