Records of caridean shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the coasts of the Mexican Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Caribbean

Caridean shrimps are present in virtually every habitat in marine or brackish waters and are most diverse in shallow tropical waters (Wicksten and Hendrickx, 1992). Knowledge of the caridean shrimp fauna from Mexico has been restricted mainly to the Gulf of California (e.g., Rios and Carvacho, 1982; Wicksten, 1983; Rios, 1992; Wicksten and Hendrickx, 1992; Hendrickx, 1993a,b), coasts from Veracruz (e.g., White, 1982; Hermoso-Salazar and Martinez-Guzman, 1991), coasts from Yucatan (e.g., Martinez-Guzman et al., 1989; Martinez-Guzman and Hernandez-Aguilera, 1993) and the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo (e.g., Chace, 1972; Markham et al., 1990). Collections from estuarine and marine environments of the Pacific coast of Mexico, Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Caribbean have produced significant information relative to the distribution and ecology of 18 species of caridean shrimp belonging to three families: Palaemonidae (7), Alpheidae (6) and Hippolytidae (5). The examined material was obtained during the last 20 yrs by numerous expeditions along of the above coasts mentioned. Table 1 lists the localities and gives latitude and longitude for each. All material is deposited in the Collection of Crustaceans, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas (UANL-FCB). Previously known distribution and remarks are given for each species.