Ascidonia flavomaculata

Ascidonia flavomaculata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Caridea
Family: Palaemonidae
Genus: Ascidonia
Species:
A. flavomaculata
Binomial name
Ascidonia flavomaculata
Heller, 1864
Synonyms[1]
  • Alciope heterochelus (Rafinesque, 1814)
  • Pontonia diazona (Joliet,1882)
  • Pontonia elegans (Sarato,1887)
  • Pontonia flavomaculata (Heller, 1887)
  • Pontonia Phallusiae (Marion in Gourret, 1887)
  • Pontonia phallusiae (Marion in de Folin & Périer, 1879)

Ascidonia flavomaculata is a small caridean shrimp from the Palaemoidae family that associates with a variety of other invertebrates like sea sponges, sea anemones, gorgonians, corals, mollusks, echinoderms, and ascidians. It is found in marine environments in mostly coastal regions.[2][3][1][4]

Description

Ascidonia flavomaculata is a benthic clear translucent shrimp with yellow spots and visible green internal organs that is generally associated endosymbiotically with solitary ascidians. Eye morphology in pontoniine shrimps is strongly influenced by their lifestyle, with endosymbiotic species showing reduced eye complexity compared to free-living forms.[5] The species is gonochoric, with females having a larger abdomen and carapace than males, and males having larger claws while both sexes have one larger claw.[2][6] They can range from 2–20 mm (0.079–0.787 in) long.[7][1]

Distribution and habitat

Ascidonia flavomaculata occurs in coastal marine environments, typically in shallow subtidal zones. They are recorded across the northeastern Atlantic as well as the broader eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean regions.[1][8][5] They can live in a wide range of other invertebrate organisms but are most commonly found in sea squirts, specifically Phallusia mammillata.[6] As a symbiotic crustacean, A. flavomaculata is hosted by ascidians within the branchial chamber.[5]

Life cycle and reproduction

Ascidonia flavomaculata exhibits a symbiotic lifestyle within solitary ascidian hosts, which strongly influences its reproductive biology and life cycle.[2] A. flavomaculata prefer to live alone usually inside the branchial chambers of ascidians so for reproduction male A. flavomaculata will leave their host to go find a female.[2] They exhibit sexual reproduction like other pontoniine shrimps and the male will stay will the female for a period of time until leaving to go back to his host.[9] Once the female has carried the eggs for long enough in her swimmerets, they will hatch and float planktonically until they grow enough where larvae typically develop through zoeal and mysis stages before reaching juvenile form. After that, they find their own host to live in, and can often be picky about where they live and what organism they live in.[9] They are most commonly found in Phallusia mammillata, which is a sea squirt.[6] A. flavomaculata will occasionally leave their host to scavenge for debris and detritus.[10][11][12][13]

Taxonomy

Ascidonia flavomaculata comes from the genus Ascidonia and from the family Palaemonidae. The family Palaemonidae consists of a large clade of tunicate and other endosymbiotic shrimp.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ascidonia flavomaculata (Heller, 1864)". DecaNet. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Baeza, J. Antonio; Díaz-Valdés, Marta (2011). "The symbiotic shrimp Ascidonia flavomaculata lives solitarily in the tunicate Ascidia mentula: implications for its mating system". Invertebrate Biology. 130 (4): 351–361. Bibcode:2011InvBi.130..351B. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7410.2011.00244.x. ISSN 1077-8306. JSTOR 41408397.
  3. ↑ Anderson, J. G.; Meadows, P. S. (1969). "IMIS | Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee". Hydrobiologia (1).
  4. ↑ Levitt-Barmats, Ya'arit; Shenkar, Noa (2018-02-21). "Observations on the symbiotic relationship between the caridean shrimp Odontonia sibogae (Bruce, 1972) and its ascidian host Herdmania momus (Savigny, 1816)". PLOS ONE. 13 (2) e0192045. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1392045L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0192045. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5821439. PMID 29466373.
  5. 1 2 3 Dobson, Nicola C.; De Grave, Sammy; Johnson, Magnus L. (2014). "Linking eye design with host symbiont relationships in pontoniine shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palaemonidae)". PLOS ONE. 9 (6) e99505. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...999505D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0099505. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4064969. PMID 24950292.
  6. 1 2 3 Oliveira, Frederico; Almeida, Cheila; Gonçalves, Jorge (2009). "Ascidonia Flavomaculata (Heller, 1864), a New Record for the Portuguese Marine Invertebrate Fauna (Decapoda, Pontoniidae)". Crustaceana. 82 (1): 63–67. Bibcode:2009Crust..82...63O. doi:10.1163/156854008X363740. hdl:10400.1/8924. ISSN 0011-216X. Archived from the original on 2025-06-25.
  7. 1 2 De Gier, Werner; Fransen, Charles H.J.M. (2023-01-01). "Polka-dotted treasures: Revising a clade of ascidian- and bivalve-associated shrimps (Caridea: Palaemonidae)". Contributions to Zoology. 92 (3): 179–282. doi:10.1163/18759866-bja10042. hdl:11370/51117cbd-2f30-4331-a6da-fcbd013e2a8b. ISSN 1383-4517.
  8. ↑ "Ascidonia flavomaculata (Heller, 1864)". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  9. 1 2 Baeza, J. Antonio; Hemphill, Carrie A.; Ritson-Williams, Raphael (2015-03-23). "The Sexual and Mating System of the Shrimp Odontonia katoi (Palaemonidae, Pontoniinae), a Symbiotic Guest of the Ascidian Polycarpa aurata in the Coral Triangle". PLOS ONE. 10 (3) e0121120. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1021120B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121120. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4370848. PMID 25799577.
  10. ↑ Hoeksema, B. W.; Fransen, C. H. J. M. (2011-06-01). "Space partitioning by symbiotic shrimp species cohabitating in the mushroom coral Heliofungia actiniformis at Semporna, eastern Sabah". Coral Reefs. 30 (2): 519. Bibcode:2011CorRe..30..519H. doi:10.1007/s00338-011-0736-4. ISSN 1432-0975.
  11. ↑ Bauer, Raymond T. (2023), "Symbioses", in Bauer, Raymond T. (ed.), Shrimps: Their Diversity, Intriguing Adaptations and Varied Lifestyles, Fish & Fisheries Series, vol. 42, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 515–581, doi:10.1007/978-3-031-20966-6_10, ISBN 978-3-031-20966-6
  12. ↑ www.semanticscholar.org. S2CID 88860784 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/On-Pontoniinae-(Crustacea,-Decapoda,-Palaemonidae)-Fransen/eaf875ee7bea49993b8355fedf90d83614caae30#:~:text=It%20is%20suggested%20that%20males,19%20References. Retrieved 2026-04-28. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Park JH, De Grave S. 2021. Two new species and a further country record of the caridean shrimp genus Periclimenaeus Borradaile, 1915 from Korea (Decapoda: Palaemonidae). Zool Stud 60:1. doi:10.6620/ZS.2021.60-01.
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