Lynceus, Muller, 1776

Shu, Shusen, Sigvardt, Zandra M. S., Chen, Xiaoyong, Olesen, Jørgen, Rogers, D. Christopher & Sanoamuang, La-orsri, 2019, Ophiacantha scissionis Lee & Stöhr & Bae & Shin 2019, sp. nov., Zoological Studies 58 (28), pp. 1-16 : 14

Chinese Lynceus diversity

There are few reports on clam shrimp diversity in China and Southeast Asia from the last century, but research has increased recently (Rogers et al. 2012 2016; Shu et al. 2015). Daday (1913 1927) described L. mandsuricus from Shenyang City, China based on male specimens, and Uéno (1940) later gave a short description of the female. Subsequent Chinese workers followed Uéno’s figures ( Dai 1982; Hu 1988). Unfortunately, none of these treatments of L. mandsuricus are very detailed, especially for the female (Rogers et al. 2016).

Lynceus taianensis Han, Shu et Liu, 1995 was described from Shandong Province, China ( Han et al. 1995), but the description (and the figures) is poor and not useful: “Male with one growth line in carapace, thoracopods 10 pairs, first pair modified as claspers, unequal left and right side. Female with one growth line in carapace, thoracopods 12 pairs, thoracopods IX and X carry eggs, lamina abdominalis present near telson.” The characters in this too brief description are common to the genus, and a growth line in Lynceus is highly doubtful, even though Linder (1945) reported a similar finding from Siberian specimens. Furthermore, no type specimens, type locality, or museum material was designated, and no differential diagnosis was provided. Therefore, we regard L. taianensis as a nomen nudum, according to article 13.1 of the ICZN.

Lynceus biformis has been reported in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan ( Olesen et al. 2016; Rogers et al. 2016; Rogers and Olesen 2016), and is apparently widely distributed in East Asia. Thus, L. amplopedia sp. nov. is the third valid species of Laevicaudata reported from China.

Knowledge about Lynceus diversity in China is limited, and the diversity is most likely larger than the literature indicates. Lynceus brachyurus is distributed widely in the Holarctic, ranging from the USA to Europe and Russia ( Martin and Belk 1988; Rogers and Olesen 2016), and there is a doubtful record from northernmost India ( Rogers and Padhye 2015). Due to this wide distribution of L. brachyurus it is not unlikely that it may also occur in northwest China. Lynceus indicus is only reported from the Indian side of the Himalayas, which is near the Chinese Tibetan plateau ( Rogers and Padhye 2015), so it is likely that this species also occurs in China. Thus, Chinese Lynceus diversity needs further exploration, especially in the western and northern regions, which are close to India and Russia ( Rogers and Padhye 2015; Vekhov 1993).