Neopontonides chacei Heard 1986
Creators: name: Fransen, Charles H. J. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Decapoda
Palaemonidae
Neopontonides
Neopontonides chacei

description: Neopontonides chacei Heard, 1986
(Fig. 7, video 5)
Material examined. Curaçao: RMNH. CRUS.D.51659: 1 ovigerous female, pocl. 1.6 mm; stn CUR.02, south coast, Atlantis diving/ Drielstraat, 12°05′42.1″N 068°54′43.0″W, 10.vi.2005, depth 7.2 m, scuba diving, on Plexaurella dichotoma (Esper, 1791) (fcn. F410), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g117). RMNH. CRUS.D.58118: 4 specimens; stn CUR.03, south coast, Hilton Reef, 12°07′19.5″N 068°58′07.8″W, 16.vi.2005, depth 7 m, scuba diving, on Plexaura sp., collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g124). RMNH. CRUS.D.58119: 1 non-ovigerous female, pocl. 1.3 mm; stn CUR.03, south coast, Hilton Reef, 12°07′19.5″N 068°58′07.8″W, 16.vi.2005, depth 7 m, scuba diving, on Plexaura sp., collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g121). RMNH. CRUS.D.51652: 1 specimen; stn CUR.04, south coast, West Side Piscaderabaai, 12°07′21.4″N 068°58′10.5″W, 30.iv.2005, depth 13.2 m, scuba diving, on Pseudoplexaura flagellosa (Houttuyn, 1772) (fcn. F056B), collected by B. T. Reijnen (fcn. g036). RMNH. CRUS.D.51656: 1 specimen; stn CUR.07, south coast, Vaersenbaai, 12°09′38.3″N 069°08′17.2″W, 03.v.2005, depth 9.2 m, scuba diving, on Eunicea clavigera Bayer, 1961 (fcn. F114), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g045). RMNH. CRUS.D.58120: 1 male, pocl. 1.1 mm; 1 non-ovigerous female, pocl. 1.4 mm; stn CUR.11, west point, Playa Kalki, 12°22′29.8″N 069°09′27.7″W, 10.v.2005, depth 6.2 m, scuba diving, on Plexaura sp., collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g062). RMNH. CRUS.D.51653: 1 specimen; stn CUR.11, west point, Playa Kalki, 12°22′29.8″N 069°09′27.7″W, 10.v.2005, depth 37.4 m, scuba diving, on Eunicea flexuosa (Lamouroux, 1821) (fcn. F190), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g063). RMNH. CRUS. D.51654: 1 ovigerous female, pocl. 2.0 mm; stn CUR.16, south coast, Fuikbaai, 12°03′01.6″N 068°50′05.2″W, 19.v.2005, depth 20 m, scuba diving, collected by B. T. Reijnen (fcn. g078). RMNH. CRUS.D.51655: 2 males, pocl. 1.2, 1.5 mm; stn CUR.17, south coast, Caracasbaai, 12°03′01.6″N 068°52′01.2″W, 03.vi.2005, depth 12.3 m, scuba diving, on E. flexuosa (fcn. F366), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g098). RMNH. CRUS.D.58121: 1 juvenile, pocl. 1.0 mm; stn CUR.24, south coast, Grote Knip, 12°21′05.1″N 069°09′06.4″W, 08.vi.2005, depth 13 m, scuba diving, on Pseudoplexaura porosa forma a (fcn. F378), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g106). RMNH. CRUS. D.58122: 1 ovigerous female, pocl. 1.5 mm; stn CUR.25, south coast, Kleine Knip, 12°20′28.8″N 069°09′08.3″W, 08.vi.2005, depth 21.2 m, scuba diving, on Pseudoplexaura porosa (Houttuyn, 1772) (fcn. F386), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g109). RMNH. CRUS.D.51658: 2 specimens; stn CUR.25, south coast, Kleine Knip, 12°20′28.8″N 069°09′08.3″W, 08.vi.2005, depth 10.8 m, scuba diving, on Antillogorgia americana (Gmelin, 1791) (fcn. F388), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g111a). RMNH. CRUS.D.51660: 2 specimens; stn CUR.28, south coast, Sponge Forest, 12°17′44.1″N 069°09′26.0″W, 14.vi.2005, depth 18.1 m, scuba diving, on P. porosa (fcn. F416), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g119b–c). RMNH. CRUS.D.58123: 1 specimen; stn CUR.31, east point, Awa di Oostpunt, 12°02′25.9″N 068°45′03.3″W, 18.vi.2005, depth 21.2 m, scuba diving, on P. porosa (fcn. F436), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g125). RMNH. CRUS.D.51657: 1 damaged specimen, pocl. 0.8 mm; stn CUR.31, east point, Awa di Oostpunt, 12°02′25.9″N 068°45′03.3″W, 18.vi.2005, depth 17.6 m, scuba diving, on Antillogorgia bipinnata (Verrill, 1864) (fcn. F438), collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g128). RMNH. CRUS.D.58124: several specimens; south coast, Waterfabriek, 12°06′35.4″N 068°57′15.0″W, 26.v.2005, depth 8.8 m, scuba diving, on Pseudoplexaura sp., collected by N. Snijders (fcn. g089). RMNH. CRUS.D.58125: 1 specimen; stn COA. 22, Grote Knip, 12°21′04.10″N 69°09′06.90″W, 6.xi.2013, depth 10 m, scuba diving, on Plexaura sp. (collected), collected by C.H.J.M. Fransen (photo COA.22 238–241). OUMNH. ZC. 2019-06-14: 18 specimens, including ovigerous female pocl. 0.9–1.6 mm; Sun Reef, 12°8′21.12″N 68°59′53.1594″W, 14.ii.2015, depth 7 m, from Antillogorgia sp., leg. P. Wirtz & K. Wittman (fcn. 1). OUMNH. ZC. 2019-06-15: 1 ovigerous female pocl. 1.6 mm; Sun Reef, 12°8′21.12″N 68°59′53.1594″W, 18.ii.2015, depth 44 m, from Elisella sp., leg. P. Wirtz & K. Wittman (sample 14). Bonaire: RMNH. CRUS. D.58126: 1 specimen; stn BON.06, Oil Slick Leap, 12°12.029′N 068°18.512′W, 25.x.2019, depth 12 m, scuba diving, on Plexaurella spec., collected by C.H.J.M. Fransen (video 5). Stn BON.06, Oil Slick Leap, 12°12.029′N 068°18.512′W, 25.x.2019, depth 12 m, scuba diving, on Eunicea spec., C.H.J.M. Fransen (video 5), not collected. RMNH. CRUS.D.57908: 3 specimens; stn BON.37, Andrea I, 12°11.285′N 068°17.795′W, 06.xi.2019, depth 8 m, scuba diving, on gorgonarian, collected by C.H.J.M. Fransen. RMNH. CRUS.D.58127: 47 specimens; Something Special (Pali Grande), 12°09.696′N 068°17.016′W, 06.xi.2019, depth unknown, scuba diving, on brown gorgonian, collected by Peter Wirtz (fcn. 9) (photo).
Ecology. Associated with gorgonarians of the genera Antilligorgia, Leptogorgia and Plexaurella (De Grave & Anker 2017). P. porosa, P. flagellosa (Houttuyn, 1772), E. flexuosa, E. clavigera Bayer, 1961, and Elisella spec. constitute new host records.
Distribution. Distributed in the tropical northwestern Atlantic from Florida southwards to Belize and the Caribbean coast of Panama in depths between 1 and 10 m (De Grave & Anker 2017). The species is herein recorded for the first time from Curaçao and Bonaire.
description: Published as part of Fransen, Charles H. J. M., 2023, The marine palaemonid shrimps (Crustacea, Deapoda, Caridea) of the Dutch Caribbean, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 5387 (1) on pages 24-26, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5387.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10698994