title: Description of a new species of Sternomoera (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Pontogeneiidae) from Japan, with an analysis of the phylogenetic relationships among the Japanese species based on the 28S rRNA gene.
abstract: A new species of amphipod, Sternomoera morinoi Tomikawa and Ishimaru, is described from subterranean aquatic habitats in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. In addition, Relictomoera tsushimana (Uéno, 1971) from a well on the island of Tsushima in Japan is transferred to Sternomoera and redescribed based on the holotype. Sternomoera morinoi sp. nov. is most similar to S. tsushimana (Uéno, 1971) comb, nov., but is distinguished by having many fine setae on the body, a shorter antenna 1, fewer C-setae on mandibular palp article 3, a shorter mandibular palp article 3, sparsely setose anterior margins of coxae 1-4, a different armature of the palmar margins of gnathopods 1 and 2, and no long setae on the posterior margin of the basis in gnathopod 2 and pereopods 3 and 4. The phylogenetic relationships among the Japanese species of Sternomoera are also estimated, based on partial DNA sequences of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Science Education, Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8524, Japan.
authors.forename: Ko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomikawa
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kyono
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishimaru
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Grygier
mesh_terms: D033304:Amphipoda / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003710:Demography; D007564:Japan; D010802:Phylogeny; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S
keywords: Amphipoda; Japan; Sternomoera; new combination; new species; phylogeny; taxonomy