Shallow water hippolytid shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) from the Mexican Caribbean coast

摘要

A checklist of shallow water shrimps of the family Hippolytidae of the central-southern coast of the Mexican Caribbean is presented. A total of 11 species belonging to 6 genera were collected on beds of Thalassia testudinum in Bahía de la Ascensión, Bahía del Espíritu Santo, and the Mahahual reef lagoon, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Genera Hippolyte and Thor were the most diverse with three species each. An updated geographic distribution along the western Atlantic and other regions is provided for all the species. Outside of the Caribbean province, greatest affinity of the hippolytid fauna is with the Virginian, Carolinian, Texan, and Brazilian provinces. New regional records are given and the occurrence of Hippolyte pleuracanthus is cited for the first time in the Mexican Caribbean.