Alpheus lottini is an Indo-West Pacific and eastern Pacific snapping shrimp that belongs to the Sulcatus species group within the genus Synalpheus (Kim and Abele 1988). This species is an obligate symbiont of coral, and lives in pairs in the branches of pocilloporid corals, where it feeds on mucus produced by the coral and on organic particles trapped within this mucus (Patton, 1974). Alpheus lottini actively defends its host coral from attacks of Acanthaster plancii, the corallivorous"crown-of-thorns" seastar, by snapping on the star's arms with its large chela and pinching its tube feet with the small chela (Glynn 1976). When entering host corals already occupied by trapeziid crabs, A. lottini uses a series of "appeasement" patterns, evidently borrowed from the crab's behavioral repetoire, before the crab allows the shrimp to co-occupy a coral colony (Vannini 1985). For more details, see Knowlton et al. (2008): http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bioinformatics/alpheus/Alpheus_Template.php?....

This species is an obligate symbiont of coral, and lives in pairs in the branches of pocilloporid corals, where it feeds on mucus produced by the coral and on organic particles trapped within this mucus (Patton, 1974, Black and Prince 1983). Alpheus lottini actively defends its host coral from attacks of Acanthaster plancii, the corallivorous"crown-of-thorns" seastar, by snapping on the star's arms with its large chela and pinching its tube feet with the small chela (Glynn 1976). When entering host corals already occupied by trapeziid crabs, A. lottini uses a series of "appeasement" patterns, evidently borrowed from the crab's behavioral repetoire, before the crab allows the shrimp to co-occupy a coral colony (Vannini 1985).

Alpheus lottini belongs to the Sulcatus species group within the genus Alpheus (Kim and Abele 1988). Widespread around the Indo-Pacific region, this species shows some variability in color pattern, which along with molecular data (Knowlton and Weight 1997; but see Williams and Knowlton 2001, Williams et al. 2002) suggests there may be several cryptic species in this complex (Anker 2001).

Alpheus sublucanus (Forskal, 1775); Alpheus ventrosus (H. Milne Edwards 1837); Alpheus laevis (Randall, 1839); Alpheus Thetis (Miers 1874); (?) Crangon latipes (Banner 1953); Crangon ventrosa (Banner 1953).

Eastern Pacific and Indo-west Pacific: widespread in the Indo-Pacific and Indian Oceans from the Red Sea to east and South Africa; through the Indian and Pacific Oceans to Japan, Australia, French Polynesia, Hawaii, Easter Island; southern Gulf of California to Galapagos, Panama, and Colombia (Banner and Banner 1982, Kim and Abele 1988, Chace 1988, Poupin 2003, 2008; Knowlton et al. 2008).

Maximum body size is 13 mm carapace length (Chace 1988). This species is most easily recognized by the distinctive development of the dactyls of the walking legs; dactyls are heavy, blunt, laterally compressed, with the blunt tip with a ridge of hard chitin similar to a horse hoof (Banner and Banner 1982). Color pattern can be somewhat variable across its range. Specimens from the Red Sea (Banner and Banner 1981) had a body color that was orange-brown to orange red, often with a dark dorsal longitudinal stripe, sometimes with a pale medial line; sides of body often paler; large chela reddish brown, with lighter reddish brown palm.

This species is an obligate associate of living pocilloporid corals, and has been reported from Pocillopora meandrina var nobilis, P. lingulata, P. damicornis, and some species in the genus Seriatopora (Banner and Banner 1982). It often shares coral heads with crabs (genus Trapezia) and the related alpheid Synalpheus charon, and all symbionts have a similar bright orange-red coloring with red mottling; A. lottini also often has a mid-longitudinal deep red stripe (appearing amost black) (Banner and Banner 1982). It occurs at the depth range of the coral host, lower subtidal and intertidal to about 50 m depth (Chace 1988).

Sequenced in Knowlton and Weight 1997; Williams et al. 2001, 2002. Sequences available in GenBank for COI (AF309910; U76428-6448; AF107049-68, AJ493473-AJ493488), elongation-factor 1 alpha (AF310841.1), glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (AF310752.1), 18S+ITS1+5.8s (AY074920), and myHC mysosin heavy chain (AJ493168-AJ493186).