The snapping shrimp in the accompanying picture is a new species—described in 2014 as part of one of the Biota Program’s thematic projects—and was named in honor of FAPESP, Typton fapespae. “Since the species is currently found only along the coast of the state of São Paulo, we decided to honor the Foundation that supported us and allowed us to carry out this study with other researchers,” says biologist Fernando Mantelatto, director and professor at the Riberão Preto School of Philosophy, Science, Languages and Literature of the University of São Paulo (FFCLRP-USP). The goal of the project he leads is to build a genomic library of the decapod crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, lobsters, etc.) found along the São Paulo coast. The new species of snapping shrimp, T. fapespae, has a total length of one centimeter and was found in the coastal cities São Sebastião and Ubatuba, living in a symbiotic relationship with sea sponges. The larger claw—common to this and similar genera, but not found in other shrimp species of commercial interest—is used for defense and to attract the female in mating.
Images sent by Fernando Mantelatto, of the Laboratory for Bioecology and the Systematics of Crustaceans, FFCL-USP
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