Vol. 63, 2024

Description and Phylogenetic Position of a New Genus and Species of Deep-Water Alpheid Shrimp Associated with Glass Sponges off New Caledonia (Decapoda: Caridea)

Hossein Ashrafi^1,*, Zdeněk Ďuriš¹, and Arthur Anker^2,3

¹Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, CZ-71000, Ostrava, Czech Republic. *Correspondence: E-mail: ashrafi.hossein.s@gmail.com (Ashrafi)
E-mail: denek.duris@osu.cz (Ďuriš)
²Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: arthuranker7@gmail.com (Anker)
³Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Genética, Instituto de Biologia, Campus Universitário Capão do Leão, RS, 96010-610, Brazil

(Received 11 September 2023 / Accepted 21 December 2023 / Published -- 2024)
Communicated by Ka Hou Chu

Batellopsis paula gen. et sp. nov., a new hexactinellid-associated alpheid shrimp, is described based on a single specimen collected at a depth of 477–503 m north of Île des Pins, New Caledonia. Batellopsis gen. nov. is part of a clade of four genera all containing hexactinellid-associated species, for which a molecular phylogeny is presented. The evolution of several morphological characters, including orbital teeth, a bulge-fossa system on the fingers of the first pereiopod chela, and groups of microserrulate setae on the second pereiopod chela, is discussed in light of phylogenetic results.

Key words: Alpheidae, Batellopsis paula gen. nov., Hexactinellida, Molecular phylogeny, Symbiosis, Tropical western Pacific

Citation: Ashrafi H, Ďuriš Z, Anker A. 2024. Description and phylogenetic position of a new genus and species of deep-water alpheid shrimp associated with glass sponges off New Caledonia (Decapoda: Caridea). Zool Stud 63:03. doi:10.6620/ZS.2024.63-03.