Morphological variation of species of the edwardsii group of Alpheus in the Northern Gulf of Mexico and northwestern Atlantic (Decapoda: Caridea: Alpheidae)

Abstract

Ambiguities concerning character variation in species of the edwardsii group of Alpheus led to an investigation of morphometric variation in Alpheus from the northern Gulf of Mexico and northwestern Atlantic coasts. Specimens of A. heterochaelis, A. angulatus, and A. estuariensis examined using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed intraspecific variation attributed to sexual dimorphism, and interspecific variation not noted in previous morphological studies.