A new species of Thetispelecaris (Crustacea: Peracarida) from submarine cave on Grand Cayman Island.
A new species of the peracaridan order Bochusacea, Thetispelecaris yurikago, is described from a submarine cave on Grand Cayman Island, the Caribbean Sea. The new species is the fourth species of the order and family, and the second of the genus. Recent studies have strongly suggested a close phylogenetic affinity between cave-dwelling and deep-sea taxa in the Bochusacea as recognized in other cavernicolous/deep-sea crustaceans such as amphipods and copepods. The morphology of the gut and female reproductive system is observed for the first time in the Bochusacea: the stomach is complex with structures such as ridges, processes, spinules, and hairs in the lumen; paired gonopores are located near the base of the fifth pereiopods on the sternite.
Ohtsuka
Susumu
S
Fisheries Laboratory, Hiroshima University, Takehara, Japan. ohtsuka@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Hanamura
Yukio
Y
Kase
Tomoki
T
D000818:Animals; D017691:Caribbean Region; D003445:Crustacea / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004064:Digestive System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity