The Crangonidae, or Snapping Shrimp, of Hawaii^ 
ALBERT H. BANNER^ 
INTRODUCTION 
The decapod family Crangonidae, or the 
family Alpheidae of the earlier workers and of 
the present European workers, is a family of 
shrimp known popularly as snapping or pistol 
shrimp. The members of the family seldom 
exceed 30 millimeters in length, are usually 
of stout shape, are noticeably laterally com- 
pressed, and, though their color is variable, 
are most often reddish- to grayish-white in 
color. The outstanding characteristics of the 
most common genera of the family are the 
large size and asymmetrical development of 
the chela of the first pereiopod. It is the vio- 
lent closure of the enlarged chela that pro- 
duces the clicking or snapping sound which 
has given the members of the family their 
common name. 
Considering how common the snapping 
shrimp are in Hawaii, surprisingly little work 
has been done on them. The earliest record of 
members of this family from the Hawaiian 
Islands was made by Randall in 1839 when he 
reported Crangon ventrosa (Milne-Edwards) as 
Alpheus laevis Randall. Dana in 1852 [this vol- 
ume was distributed on Eebruary 4, 1853, ac- 
cording to Haskell (1942: 79) and therefore 
for questions of nomenclatorial priority the 
later date should be used] reported upon the 
collections made by the United States Explor- 
ing Expedition and listed three species, all 
new, from the Hawaiian Islands. Stimpson in 
I860 reported four species from Hawaii. Only 
two species were reported from Hawaii by 
Bate in the Challenger Reports in 1888. Lenz 
in 1901 reported a single species from Laysan 
1 Contribution No. 27, Hawaii Marine Laboratory. 
2 Department of Zoology and Entomology, Univer- 
sity of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Manuscript received 
July 5, 1951. 
Island, a species previously known from the 
Hawaiian Islands. Coutiere in The Fauna and 
Geography of the Maidive and Laccadive Archi- 
pelagoes (1906) reported five species from the 
Hawaiian Islands — three on the basis of re- 
ports of previous workers, one on a specimen 
in the Museum of Paris, and one without fur- 
ther reference (the last species is discussed on 
page 142). In 1909 Coutiere, in his treatment 
of the synalpheids of the United States Na- 
tional Museum, listed four species of the 
genus Synalpheus collected in Hawaiian waters 
by the steamer "Albatross.” By far the most 
extensive studies on the Hawaiian crangonids 
were those of Edmondson. In 1925 he re- 
ported on 17 species collected by the "Tana- 
ger” in the western islands and shoals of the 
Hawaiian Archipelago; in 1930 he reported 
two new species of a genus previously un- 
known to Hawaii; and in 1933 in his book. 
Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii, he gives a brief 
description of 13 species. 
The geographical limits of the present study 
coincide with the geographical limits of the 
Hawaiian Archipelago (Fig. 1). Most of the 
collecting has been done around the larger or 
windward islands of the archipelago, which 
are, from east to west, Hawaii, Maui, Kahoo- 
lawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Nii- 
hau. Extending over a thousand miles to the 
west and north of these large islands is a chain 
of shoals and normally uninhabited small is- 
lands known as the leeward islands; these are, 
again in their order from east to west, Nihoa, 
Necker, French Frigate Shoal, Gardner Pin- 
nacles, Raita Bank, Maro Reef, Laysan, Lisi- 
anski. Pearl and Hermes Reef, Midway, and 
Kure, or Ocean, Island. 
The present study was begun in the year 
1937-38, when quite extensive collections 
C 3 } 
