Pseudoveleronia, Marin, Ivan, 2008

Marin, Ivan, 2008, Taxonomic position of Pontonides sympathes De Ridder & Holthuis and species of the genus Ve l e r o n i a Holthuis (Decapoda, Palaemonidae, Pontoniinae) with the description of a new genus, Zootaxa 1932, pp. 1-17 : 10-12

Pseudoveleronia gen. nov.

Type species. — Veleronia laevifrons Holthuis, 1951 , monotypic.

Etymology. — From pseudo (Greek (false)) and Vel eron i a, the genus in which the type species was erroneously placed. Gender is feminine.

Diagnosis. — Small shrimp with subcylindrical body. Carapace smooth, gibbous, with antennal tooth, with two small tubercles on dorsal surface of hump, with the lateral margin projecting in a distinct carina partly covering eyes in large females; anterolateral angle broadly concave; orbits completed and closed. Rostrum short, toothless. Supraorbital carina well-developed, rectangular, reaching the tip of the rostrum, angular distolateral and oval distal margins, broadly expanding over proximal part of eyes forming supraocular eave. Dorsal surface of abdominal somite I with two small tubercles in large females. Basal segment of antenna with distolateral and lateral projections; scaphocerite without distolateral tooth. Maxilla with single flattened rounded upper endite, with stout and rounded epipod. Maxilliped I with completely fused endites, with well developed pointed epipod and exopod. Fingers of pereiopod I spatulated and shovel-like, without stout setae along the margins. Pereiopods II similar and stout, similar in males and females, with smooth stout compressed palm, about twice longer than wide and twice longer than fingers; fingers stout and compressed, with straight cutting edges. Ambulatory pereiopods with smooth segments; merus with distoventral protuberance; dactylus simple, sharp and curved. Exopod of uropod with distolateral margin rounded, without tooth.

Discussion. — The unique features of the genus are the combination of fully closed orbits (unique in the subfamily), and the stout, similar pereiopods II (chelipeds). Such chelipeds are otherwise only known in the non-related Indo-Pacific sponge-dwelling genus Onycocaris Nobili, 1904 .

The new genus is related to the Eastern Pacific species, Chacella kerstitchi (Wicksten, 1983) , sharing a similar form of the basal antennular segment and the absence of a distolateral tooth on the scaphocerite. Nevertheless, the latter species is clearly different in having incomplete orbits, the absence of an exopod of maxilliped II, the structure of the carapace, the subspatulate fingers of pereiopod I and the presence of a distolateral tooth on the exopod of the uropod (see Bruce 1986).

The new genus clearly differs from Veleronia sensu stricto by exhibiting completely closed orbits (feebly marked in Veleronia sympathes ; complete but not closed in V. serratifrons ); the basal segment of the antenna with a significantly projected distal and lateral margin; a scaphocerite without distolateral tooth (pronounced in Vel e ro ni a spp.); a stout upper endite and stout rounded epipod on the maxilla (vs. thin endite and epipod in Veleronia ); elongated distal segments of maxilliped II; spatulate, shovel-like fingers of pereiopod I (vs. simple fingers with straight cutting edges in Veleronia ); pereiopods II similar in shape, with smooth stout compressed palm and large compressed fingers (vs. dissimilar in Veleronia , with the major chela comprised of a long, curved palm covered with small tubercles or teeth, and small and stout fingers); the presence of three plumose setae on the basal part of the appendix masculina (vs. absent in Vel e ro ni a); the absence of a distolateral tooth on the exopod of the uropod. Morphological differences with the genus Pontonides are highlighted in the key below.