Annotated checklist of the snapping shrimps of the genus Alpheus Fabricius, 1798 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Alpheidae) from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, Iran.

In the present study, shrimps belonging to the genus Alpheus from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman are documented based on the existing literature and extensive new sampling from 2013 to 2018 along the Iranian coast. A total of 35 species are recorded from the region, of which 40% (14 species) and 60% (21 species) are new records for the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, respectively. Among 19 sampling localities, A. lobidens De Haan, 1849, A. edwardsii (Audouin, 1826) and A. edamensis De Man, 1888 occurred in 14, 13 and 9 localities, respectively. Among the visited habitats, 14 species (40%) were associated with coral or other sessile invertebrates, 13 species (37%) were collected on sandy or rocky substrates, five species (14%) were obtained from muddy substrates, and three species (9%) were found associated with goby fishes. Among Alpheus species, three (10%) were endemic to the Persian Gulf. Most taxa show affinities to both western Indian Ocean and East Indian/West Pacific Oceans.