Marine biodiversity of Costa Rica:: Crustacea: Decapoda (Penaeoidea, Sergestoidea, Stenopodidea, Caridea, Thalassinidea, Palinura) from the Caribbean

A total of 30 species of shrimp and lobster are reported From the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. They belong to the Suborder Dendrobranchiata: Penaeoidea, 6 spp. and Sergestoidea, 2 spp.; and Suborder Pleocyemata: Stenopodidea, 2 spp.; Caridea, 15 spp.; Thalassinidea, 2 spp.; Palinura, 3 spp. Of these, 22 species are reported for the first time for Costa Rica, and one species previously known from the Pacific coast is informed from the Caribbean coast. Distribution ranges are extended for: Pontonia domestica Gibbes, from North Carolina, Gulf of Mexico and Bahamas; and Rhynchocinetes rigens Gordon, from the northern Caribbean, Bermuda and eastern Atlantic, to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Of 218 species of Penaeoidea, Sergestoidea, Caridea and Stenopodidea mentioned for the Caribbean by Chace (1972), only 25 (11.5%) have been reported from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.