Alpheus bouvieri A. Milne Edwards, 1878
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| Original Description | Alpheus bouvieri A. Milne Edwards, 1878: 231. |
| Classification | Arthropoda: Crustacea: Malacostraca: Decapoda: Alpheidae. |
| Synonymy | Alpheus leviusculus bouvieri. |
| Type Locality | Cape Verde (symbol  on the map). |
| Type Material | MNHN-Na 2267, two syntypes in bad condition (dried out). |
| Common Name | Bouvier's banded snapping shrimp. |
| Taxonomic Status | Valid, redefinition of taxonomic status in preparation (Anker et al., in prep.). |
| Geographic Distribution | Amphi-Atlantic: tropical eastern Atlantic [EA]: Cape Verde and Senegal south to Gulf Guinea and Congo; subtropical central Atlantic [CA]: Ascension Island; tropical and subtropical western Atlantic [WA]: Florida, W Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean south to S Brazil (see map). |
| Frequency | Common. |
| Habitat | Rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal; rock- and mixed rock-mud or rock-sand bottoms, sometimes near mangroves; in W Atlantic also in crevices of sabellariid reefs (Phragmatopoma). |
| Depth Range | Upper intertidal to shallow subtidal (probably to about 10 m). |
| Life History and Behavior | Lives in male-female pairs in crevices of rocks, rubble and fossilized coral platforms, in crusts of coralline algae; also in self-excavated tunnels in rocks or in burrows in mud/sand under rocks. |
| Related Species | Alpheus "javieri" Anker et al., in prep. [EP]; A. hebes Kim and Abele, 1988 [EP]; A. "agilis" Anker et al., in prep. [WA-EA]; A. longinquus Kim and Abele, 1988 [EP]; Morphologically, A. bouvieri differs only slightly from its transisthmian sister species, A. "javieri", e.g., in having a slightly broader dorsal notch on the major chela. However, the two species differ genetically (Anker et al., in prep.; see also Williams et al., 2001), and (insignificantly) in color patterns: in A. bouvieri, the bands are usually brown and the palm of the major claw bears a distinct whitish patch, whereas in A. "javieri", the bands are more bluish or purple-brown and the claw palm does not have a distinct white patch (see comparison photos); A. bouvieri can be distinguished from both A. hebes and A. "agilis" by the absence of a spine on the ischium of the third pereiopod; and from A. longinquus by the presence of well-developed balaeniceps setae on the male minor chela. |
| Size | Body length to about 25 mm. |
| Color Pattern | See photo EA or WA. |
| Molecular Barcode | GenBank number AF321332, AF321333, AF321334, AF309877. |
| Remarks | Was erroneously considered as a subspecies of A. leviusculus Dana, 1852 (see Banner and Banner, 1982), which, however, appears to be only distantly related to A. bouvieri. |
| Major References | Milne Edwards, 1878 [orginal description]; Crosnier and Forest, 1966 [description and illustration of E Atlantic material]; Chace, 1972 [records in W Atlantic]; Christoffersen, 1979 [description and illustrations of Brazilian material; records; synonymy]; Williams et al., 2001 [phylogeny, recognition of cryptic species]; Anker et al., in prep. [precision of status, revision of Atlantic and E Pacific species of A. bouvieri species complex]. |