{
  "title": "AESRD global eusocial shrimp locations: evidence register",
  "reviewed": "2026-10-18",
  "limitations": "Literature synthesis; approximate regional locators, not specimen coordinates or range boundaries. Historical records do not establish current occupancy. Research leads are not confirmed eusocial colonies; no probability is implied. Unmarked areas are not absence records. Not a comprehensive systematic review.",
  "coordinateReference": "WGS84 longitude/latitude; approximate editorial locators",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "idelisae2026",
      "label": "Hultgren, Claire & Bailey (2026)",
      "title": "A new eusocial species of snapping shrimp, Synalpheus idelisae n. sp. (Decapoda, Alpheidae), with a review of caste differentiation in eusocial shrimp",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.5252/zoosystema2026v48a20",
      "locator": "Species treatment, material examined, ecology and colony size (Table 3): 2024 colonies from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Published 8 September 2026."
    },
    {
      "id": "madagascar2023",
      "label": "Ashrafi & Hultgren (2023)",
      "title": "Eusociality unveiled: discovery and documentation of two new eusocial shrimp species (Caridea: Alpheidae) from the Western Indian Ocean",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3897/asp.81.e111799",
      "locator": "Species accounts and discussion: S. gustavi and S. sponjy from northwest Madagascar; eusocial classification based on colony evidence, with greater uncertainty for S. sponjy."
    },
    {
      "id": "sulawesi2006",
      "label": "Didderen, Fransen & de Voogd (2006)",
      "title": "Observations on sponge-dwelling colonies of Synalpheus of Sulawesi, Indonesia",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1163/156854006778815937",
      "locator": "Table I (p. 964) and discussion (p. 973): a large colony with one egg-bearing female suggests eusociality, but behavioural division of labour is not demonstrated."
    },
    {
      "id": "jamaica2009",
      "label": "Macdonald, Hultgren & Duffy (2009)",
      "title": "The sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Alpheidae, Synalpheus) of Discovery Bay, Jamaica, with descriptions of four new species",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2199.1.1",
      "locator": "Methods (p. 3); S. duffyi and S. elizabethae ecology (pp. 22, 24); discussion of S. regalis colonies (p. 54)."
    },
    {
      "id": "allometry2018",
      "label": "Bornbusch, Lefcheck & Duffy (2018)",
      "title": "Allometry of individual reproduction and defense in eusocial colonies: a comparative approach to trade-offs in social sponge-dwelling Synalpheus shrimps",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193305",
      "locator": "Methods: Synalpheus collections and Study specimens. Lists five collection regions and the study’s eusocial species; it is not a complete range survey."
    },
    {
      "id": "barbados2011",
      "label": "Hultgren, Macdonald & Duffy (2011)",
      "title": "Sponge-dwelling snapping shrimps (Alpheidae: Synalpheus) of Barbados, West Indies, with a description of a new eusocial species",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2834.1.1",
      "locator": "Material and methods; Synalpheus microneptunus, hosts and ecology. West-coast Barbados collections, October 2008."
    },
    {
      "id": "revision2008",
      "label": "Anker & Tóth (2008)",
      "title": "A preliminary revision of the Synalpheus paraneptunus Coutière, 1909 species complex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1915.1.1",
      "locator": "Abstract and species accounts: S. duffyi from Caribbean Panama; S. riosi from Dominica described with explicitly qualified sociality."
    },
    {
      "id": "taxonomy2015",
      "label": "Hultgren & Brandt (2015)",
      "title": "Taxonomy and phylogenetics of the Synalpheus paraneptunus-species-complex, with descriptions of two new species",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1163/1937240X-00002354",
      "locator": "Abstract and species accounts: S. cayoneptunus in the Florida Keys, and new S. duffyi records from Cuba and Florida."
    },
    {
      "id": "declines2013",
      "label": "Duffy et al. (2013)",
      "title": "Decline and local extinction of Caribbean eusocial shrimp",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054637",
      "locator": "Results and discussion: repeat surveys in Belize and Jamaica. Historical records cannot establish present-day occupancy."
    }
  ],
  "locations": [
    {
      "id": "belize",
      "number": 1,
      "name": "Belize Barrier Reef",
      "shortName": "Belize",
      "longitude": -88.08,
      "latitude": 16.8,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Published eusocial-colony study",
      "period": "Collections reported for 1993–2005",
      "species": "Eusocial Synalpheus assemblage, including S. regalis",
      "note": "A major study region around Carrie Bow Cay. Later surveys reported declines and local losses; this marker records historical evidence, not a current census.",
      "sources": ["allometry2018", "declines2013"]
    },
    {
      "id": "panama",
      "number": 2,
      "name": "Caribbean coast of Panama",
      "shortName": "Panama",
      "longitude": -81,
      "latitude": 9.3,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Published eusocial-colony studies",
      "period": "Collections reported for 1988–2011",
      "species": "Eusocial Synalpheus; S. duffyi described from Isla Grande",
      "note": "A regional marker for Caribbean Panama, including Bocas del Toro and Isla Grande. It does not indicate a Pacific-coast record or a precise collecting station.",
      "sources": ["allometry2018", "revision2008"]
    },
    {
      "id": "jamaica",
      "number": 3,
      "name": "Jamaica · Discovery Bay",
      "shortName": "Jamaica",
      "longitude": -77.4,
      "latitude": 18.5,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Published eusocial-colony studies",
      "period": "Collections reported for 2008",
      "species": "Synalpheus duffyi, S. elizabethae and S. regalis",
      "note": "Colony studies document eusocial shrimp in Jamaica. Subsequent population-change research reinforces the need to distinguish historical records from current abundance.",
      "sources": ["jamaica2009", "allometry2018", "declines2013"]
    },
    {
      "id": "florida",
      "number": 4,
      "name": "Florida Keys · United States",
      "shortName": "Florida Keys",
      "longitude": -81.2,
      "latitude": 24.6,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Published eusocial species and colony records",
      "period": "Florida Keys species description published 2015",
      "species": "Includes Synalpheus cayoneptunus",
      "note": "The 2015 taxonomic study describes a eusocial species from the Florida Keys. The marker represents the island chain, not all of Florida.",
      "sources": ["taxonomy2015"]
    },
    {
      "id": "bahamas",
      "number": 5,
      "name": "The Bahamas",
      "shortName": "Bahamas",
      "longitude": -76.5,
      "latitude": 24.3,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Collection region in a eusocial-colony study",
      "period": "Collections reported for 2001",
      "species": "Eusocial Synalpheus; regional record",
      "note": "The comparative colony study includes Bahamian material. Its regional summary does not establish occupation across the archipelago; this point is a locator only.",
      "sources": ["allometry2018"]
    },
    {
      "id": "barbados",
      "number": 6,
      "name": "Barbados · west-coast reefs",
      "shortName": "Barbados",
      "longitude": -59.65,
      "latitude": 13.22,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Species description and colony observations",
      "period": "Collected October 2008; published 2011",
      "species": "Synalpheus microneptunus",
      "note": "The species description reports small sponge-dwelling colonies, generally with one breeding female, from west-coast Barbados reefs.",
      "sources": ["barbados2011"]
    },
    {
      "id": "dominica",
      "number": 7,
      "name": "Dominica",
      "shortName": "Dominica",
      "longitude": -61.4,
      "latitude": 15.4,
      "evidence": "lead",
      "basis": "Presumed sociality in the cited description",
      "period": "Species description published 2008",
      "species": "Synalpheus riosi",
      "note": "The authors describe 139 specimens apparently belonging to one colony and qualify the eusocial interpretation. We retain that uncertainty: a strong lead for further behavioural and colony study.",
      "sources": ["revision2008"]
    },
    {
      "id": "cuba",
      "number": 8,
      "name": "Cuba",
      "shortName": "Cuba",
      "longitude": -81,
      "latitude": 23.1,
      "evidence": "lead",
      "basis": "Occurrence of a species known for eusociality",
      "period": "Distribution record published 2015",
      "species": "Synalpheus duffyi",
      "note": "The taxonomic study extends this species’ distribution to Cuba. Species presence is a useful survey lead; it is not, by itself, verification of a eusocial colony at this regional marker.",
      "sources": ["taxonomy2015"]
    },
    {
      "id": "sulawesi",
      "number": 9,
      "name": "Sulawesi · Spermonde, Indonesia",
      "shortName": "Sulawesi",
      "longitude": 119.2,
      "latitude": -5,
      "evidence": "lead",
      "basis": "Suggestive colony structure; behaviour unresolved",
      "period": "Study collections in 2000 and 2002; published 2006",
      "species": "Synalpheus neptunus neptunus (name used by the source)",
      "note": "A sponge sample held 289 shrimp with one egg-bearing female. The authors suggested eusociality, while behavioural division of labour remained to be established. A promising Indo-Pacific research lead, not a confirmed eusocial population.",
      "sources": ["sulawesi2006"]
    },
    {
      "id": "madagascar",
      "number": 10,
      "name": "Madagascar · Nosy Be region",
      "shortName": "Madagascar",
      "longitude": 48.3,
      "latitude": -13.4,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Published eusocial classification from colony evidence",
      "period": "Collected May 2008; published December 2023",
      "species": "Synalpheus gustavi; S. sponjy with qualified evidence",
      "note": "The study reports two eusocial species from northwest Madagascar. Evidence for S. gustavi includes strong reproductive skew. No breeding female was recovered for S. sponjy, whose social organization is inferred more cautiously. This is not a claim that every defining behaviour was experimentally observed.",
      "sources": ["madagascar2023"]
    },
    {
      "id": "dominican-republic",
      "number": 11,
      "name": "Dominican Republic · southern reefs",
      "shortName": "Dominican Rep.",
      "longitude": -68.8,
      "latitude": 18.3,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Species description and colony observations",
      "period": "Collected November 2024; published September 2026",
      "species": "Synalpheus idelisae",
      "note": "The species description documents sponge-dwelling eusocial colonies from Dominican Republic reefs, including Dominicus, Peñon and Tortuga. This marker is separate from the island of Dominica.",
      "sources": ["idelisae2026"]
    },
    {
      "id": "puerto-rico",
      "number": 12,
      "name": "Puerto Rico · Deep Shelf Reef",
      "shortName": "Puerto Rico",
      "longitude": -66.5,
      "latitude": 18.1,
      "evidence": "documented",
      "basis": "Species description and colony observations",
      "period": "Collected March 2024; published September 2026",
      "species": "Synalpheus idelisae",
      "note": "The same 2026 study reports colonies from Puerto Rico as well as the Dominican Republic. Colony observations, rather than species occurrence alone, support this regional entry.",
      "sources": ["idelisae2026"]
    }
  ]
}