The biological starting point
Eusociality is documented in some sponge-dwelling snapping shrimp of the genus Synalpheus. Duffy’s 1996 study of S. regalis established a marine example of overlapping generations, concentrated reproduction, and cooperative colony defence. The genus also contains species with other forms of social organisation. A shrimp is not eusocial merely because it lives beside another shrimp.
AESRD proposes to build a carefully sourced biological foundation before moving from organisms to abstractions. Species names, habitat descriptions, and observations would remain attached to their original studies, places, and methods.
The host belongs in the explanation
A colony occupies a physical environment, not an empty diagram. The programme would ask how a sponge’s usable space, entrances, and internal passages affect a proposed observation or simulation. A behavioural interpretation that ignores where an animal could move may confuse a spatial restriction with a social preference.
Proposed records would distinguish host identity, collection context, observation conditions, and uncertainty. Information absent from an original study would be recorded as unknown rather than supplied by analogy.
A first programme of work
The initial output would be an annotated evidence map linking biological statements to primary sources. Each entry would identify the taxon, the observation unit, the method, the finding, and limits on generalisation. A companion glossary would separate reproductive role, behaviour, life stage, and anatomical description.
Any future field or laboratory work would require qualified collaborators, appropriate permissions, and a specific research protocol. This website launches neither a collection campaign nor an animal experiment.
Useful outcomes and limits
The intended result is a reliable starting point for readers and future contributors: what is established, what depends on the species or study, and what remains unresolved. Public classification exercises would initially use clearly labelled teaching material with no claim to produce a scientific dataset.
Successful synthesis would make uncertainty easier to see. It would not replace taxonomic expertise or convert an appealing illustration into biological evidence.