Vulcanocalliax, Dworschak, Peter C. & Cunha, Marina R., 2007

Dworschak, Peter C. & Cunha, Marina R., 2007, A new subfamily, Vulcanocalliacinae n. subfam., for Vulcanocalliax arutyunovi n. gen., n. sp. from a mud volcano in the Gulf of Cádiz (Crustacea, Decapoda, Callianassidae), Zootaxa 1460, pp. 35-46 : 37

Vulcanocalliax n.gen.

Diagnosis: Carapace lacking dorsal oval and median carina. Cervical groove present, transverse cardiac sulci absent. Weak cardiac prominence bearing a small pit. Sixth abdominal somite without lateral projections. Eyestalks dorsally depressed, stalks in contact with each other medially; corneas lacking. Second maxilla scaphognathite lacking long posterior seta. Mxp3 ischium-merus 2.5 times as long as broad, lacking exopod. Epipods present on Mxp3 through P4. Uropodal exopod oval, anterodorsal plate with strongly convex posterior margin. Male Plp2 with appendix interna.

Type species: Vulcanocalliax arutyunovi n.sp., by monotypy and present designation.

Etymology: The name is a combination of vulcano (Latin for volcano), derived from Vulcanos, the Roman god of fire, for the mud volcano habitat in which it was collected, combined with Calliax . The gender is feminine, as in Calliax .

Remarks: The new genus is similar to Bathycalliax Sakai & Türkay, 1999 with respect to the presence of epipods on Mxp3 to P4, the shape of Mxp3, the shape of P3 propodus, the general shape of the tailfan, and the shape of the eyes, which lack a cornea. Vulcanocalliax n.gen. differs from Bathycalliax in the absence of a dorsomedian carina, the absence of cardiac sulci, and the absence of an exopod on Mxp3.