A New Shrimp Genus (Crustacea: Decapoda) from the Deep Atlantic and an Unusual Cleaning Mechanism of Pelagic Decapods

Autor: Alexander L. Vereshchaka, Anastasiia A Lunina, Dmitry N. Kulagin
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Diversity, Vol 13, Iss 536, p 536 (2021)
Diversity
Volume 13
Issue 11
Diversity-basel (1424-2818) (MDPI AG), 2021-11, Vol. 13, N. 11, P. 536 (14p.)
ISSN: 1424-2818
Popis: The deep sea is the largest biome on Earth and hosts the majority of as yet undescribed species
description of these may trigger a new mindset about evolution and function of characters. We describe and diagnose a new genus and species Sclerodora crosnieri sp. nov. belonging to the superfamily Oplophoroidea. We examined and coded 81 characters for morphological analyses and used four gene markers for molecular analyses involving the new taxon and representatives of all other genera of Oplophoroidea. Retrieved morphological and molecular trees were similar and suggested that the new genus is a sister group to Hymenodora and both form a clade sister to the rest of Acanthephyridae. We provide an amended key to all genera of Oplophoroidea. We found an unusual chelate structure on the dactyl of the fifth pereopod, tested and confirmed a hypothesis that this structure is common for the whole family Acanthephyridae. We suggest that this derived structure is linked to an active cleaning of branchia—a function associated with chelipeds in some other carid shrimps. Convergent chelate structures are likely efficient for cleaning branchia, whichever appendage is adapted for these functions. In Oplophoridae (sister to Acanthephyridae), cleaning function is carried out by well-developed epipods.
Databáze: OpenAIRE