A systematic account is given of the decapod crustaceans found in live and dead colonies of three species of the scleractinian coral Acropora (A. cervicornis, A. palmata, A. prolifera), collected during a 9 month period in a shallow reef flat in the southwestern portion of the Archipelago Los Roques, Venezuela. A total of 1900 individuals belonging to 30 species were found. Some qualitative observations on the ecology, feeding, and reproduction of some decapod species are given. Most of the species collected were found in the dead portions of the colonies. The crab Domecia acanthophora seems to be the only true commensal that depends on the live coral tissue. The carideans Latreutes fucorum and Alpheus simus, the anomuran Pagurus brevidactylus, the brachyurans Portunus vocans and Tetraxanthus bidentatus are reported for the first time in Venezuela.

Bijdragen tot de dierkunde

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Naturalis journals & series

Grajal, P. A., & Laughlin, G. R. (1984). Decapod crustaceans inhabiting live and dead colonies of three species of Acropora in the Roques Archipelago, Venezuela. Bijdragen tot de dierkunde, 54(2), 220–230.