Some hippolytid shrimps living in coral reefs of the West Pacific

The present paper reports on some notes and descriptions of the hippolytid shrimps found chiefly in the coral reefs of Amami-oshima, north of the Ryukyu Islands, and of the Palau Islands. The materials dealt here are referable to six species belonging to three genera of the family Hippolytidae. Holthuis (1953) published the enumeration lists of the decapod and stomatopod Crustacea from the Pacific coral islands, and described the following four species, Saron marmoratus (Olivier), S. neglectus de Man, Thor maldivensis Borradaile and T. paschalis (Heller). Among these the first three species are treated herewith. Three others are identified with T. amboinemis (de Man), Thor sp. and Lysmata dentata (de Haan) respectively. The examination of the present material will emphasize the differences of the morphological feature and colour pattern, and may broaden and enrich the knowledge of the natural communities in the corals