Abstract Alpheus platycheirus Boone, 1927 (Decapoda, Alpheidae) is a snapping shrimp widely distributed in the western Atlantic, from the Gulf of Mexico to eastern Brazil. This shrimp usually inhabits muddy marine bottoms; however, here we record for the first time A. platycheirus in association with Thalassia testudinum and Halodule wrightii meadows at an unusually shallow depth in northwest Venezuela. This record extends the known habitat and distribution of A. platycheirus in the Caribbean. Moreover, it represents an additional alpheid species for Venezuela, bringing the known total to 34 species.

Abstract During exploratory trips conducted between August and December 2016, six shrimps, found in association with the crinoid Nemaster grandis A.H. Clark, 1909, ere collected in Chichiriviche de la Costa, Vargas State (Venezuela). A photographic record of the crinoids and the shrimps was conducted in situ. Shrimps were preserved in ethyl alcohol 90% and carried to the Laboratorio de Carcinología de la Universidad de Oriente, Núcleo Nueva Esparta. Once in the laboratory, the shrimps were taxonomically described and sexed. Shrimps were identified as Periclimenes crinoidalis Chace, 1969, constituting the first record of this species in Venezuelan waters. These findings also expand the known distribution range for the crinoid N. grandis in Venezuela, where the species exhibits two morphotypes, one of them not previously described. Additionally, a table with the species of decapods found associated with echinoderms in Venezuela is provided.

Los Alpheidae son un grupo de camarones carideos caracterizados, entre otros aspectos, por presentar los ojos total o parcialmente cubiertos por el caparazón. En Venezuela esta familia está representada por los géneros Synalpheus, Mohocaris, Alpheus, Automate, Metalpheus, Salmoneus, Alpheopsis, Leptalpheus y Parabetaeus. Dos ejemplares de Salmoneus carvachoi fueron recolectados, usando una bomba de succión tipo yabby en la laguna de Punta de Piedras, Isla de Margarita, Venezuela. Estos ejemplares pueden ser diferenciados de otras especies del género Salmoneus principalmente por presentar la palma del quelipedo mayor deprimida ventralmente y por el largo de los dáctilos del tercer par de pereiópodos. Este hallazgo constituye el primer reporte de esta especie para Venezuela, ampliando de esta manera su distribución conocida para el Atlántico americano.

The Alpheidae is a group of caridean shrimps characterized, among other aspects, by the partial or total coverage of the eyes by the carapace. In Venezuela, this family is represented by the genera Synalpheus, Mohocaris, Alpheus, Automate, Metalpheus, Salmoneus, Alpheopsis, Leptalpheus and Parabetaeus. Two specimens of Salmoneous carvachoi were collected using a suction pump type yabby in the lagoon of Punta de Piedras, Margarita Island, Venezuela. These specimens mainly differ from other species of Salmoneus in the palm of the largest cheliped, which is ventrally depressed, and in the length of the dactyl of the third pair of pereiopods. This is the first report of this species for Venezuela, thus expanding the known distribution of this species to the American Atlantic.