Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) prasence, Sket & Zakšek, 2009

Sket, Boris & Zakšek, Valerija, 2009, European cave shrimp species (Decapoda: Caridea: Atyidae), redefined after a phylogenetic study; redefinition of some taxa, a new genus and four new Troglocaris species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (4), pp. 786-818 : 804-806

TROGLOCARIS (SPELAEOCARIS) PRASENCE

SP. NOV. ( FIGS 9 , 10 , 11 Spra)

Synonymy: Troglocaris sp. nov. 4 of Para-pretneri clade, Zakšek et al., 2007.

Holotype (dissected and sequenced) male: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fatničko polje, Obod cave, ‘ Fat-p _Spc- 61m’.

Paratype (only dissected) female: Same as for holotype, ‘Fat-p_Spc–181’.

Other material: Bosnia and Herzegovina (only dissected), Cernica, Kljucˇ, Vilina pećina cave, ‘Cernica_Spc-136’; Nevesinje, Kifino selo, Šnjetica cave, ‘Nevesinje_Spc-138’; Bileća, Dejanova pećina cave, ‘Bileca_Spc-05’.

Montenegro (sequenced and dissected), Rijeka Crnojevića, Obodska pećina cave, ‘Rij-Crn_Spc-51, 57, 81’.

Etymology: Prase, prasence, means piglet in the local languages, for the shrimp’s bulky body.

Diagnosis: A Spelaeocaris with rostrum long or very short, but always with some dorsal teeth; male pleopod-I endopodite with rounded triangular lobe protruding from lamina parallel with AI, nearly half of its length; pereopod propodi-III and -IV article 6 in adult males widened in distal two-thirds of their lengths; dactylus V moderately wide, pectinate.

Description of holotype male: Body very robust, ~30-mm long, CL 7.7 mm. Rostrum approximately 50% of CL (damaged at the tip), thin and gradually narrowed in distal direction, with long dorsal teeth as 11+4/0. Pleon with epimera III–V slightly produced posterioventrally, rounded–angular; pleonite VI twice as long as pleonite V, 60% of CL, and slightly shorter than telson. Telson narrow, with two pairs of dorsal spines and approximately (damaged) 14 spines at the convex distal edge; spines increasing in length in the lateral direction, except for the small outermost spines.

Eyestalks rounded–conical, with no trace of pigment or facets. Antenna-I basal articles short, less than twice as long as wide; stylocerite very wide, positioned aside of the article, its tip reaching 80% of article length; exterodistal projection of article 1 scale-like and blunt, depressed, reaching one-third of the length of the next article; two distal peduncular articles together equal in length to the basal article. Antenna-II peduncle reaching approximately half of the length of the scaphocerite, which is slightly more than twice as long as it is wide, and with a moderately long outer tooth.

Maxilla I with its larger endite parallel-sided, the spinose part 1.5 times as long as wide; palp with one long and one very short seta. Maxilla II with scaphognathite narrowly triangular, and with approximately ten long setae. Maxilliped I with exopodital lobe wide, broadly rounded apically, the narrow flagellum nearly as long as the lobe. Pereopods II, III, and V, long for 85, 165, and 147% of CL, respectively. Exopodites and epipodites well developed on pereopods I–IV, with a rudimentary exopodite on pereopod V. Chelipeds stout, carpus (article 5) in both pairs much shorter than chelae, distally widened and deeply excavated, and nearly as wide as it is long; chelae thick, ovoid, propus (article 6) with a large proximally oriented bulge, proximal parts much longer than fingers, chela in pereopod I longer, and in pereopod II as long as carpus. Pereopods III and IV with propus widened and with densely set short spines along most of the inner border in both distal two-thirds, in distal quarter these spines are in multiple rows; dactylus straight, one-third of propus length, with a short nail and a row of more than 40 spines. Pereopod V with long articles that are rod shaped (not differentiated); dactylus moderately wide, length 3.5 times the width, a good quarter of the propus length, with a comb of approximately 60 densely packed spines. Pleopod-I sympodite in distal quarter of its inner side, with a row of very short and thick spines that continue on the inner (mesial) margin of the endopodite; endopodite with its AI more than half as long as the peduncle; lamina rounded, slightly longer than it is wide, row of 20 long setae along lateral border; an additional, narrow lobe originating from the distal part of lamina. AI fingerlike, originating on the mesial side of the endopodite lamina below its tip, and more than half of its length; with about 40 retinacular hooks distally. Pleopod-II appendages as long as the sympodite; AM flat, spindle-shaped, with densely set small and sharp spines on one surface, and along its mesial border; AI more than half as long and more than half as wide as AM, rod-shaped, with a terminal retinacle of approximately 30 hooks. Uropod exopodite three times as long as it is wide, longer than endopodite, with a small tooth and a spine at the diaeresis.

Other material: Paratype male, same data as for holotype, ‘Obajd-359’; female specimen, Jezerane, Stajnica, Markarova pećina cave.

Etymology: Named after the Kapela Mountains where the collecting sites are located.

Diagnosis: A Spelaeocaris with rostrum long and dorsally serrated; male pleopod-I endopodite with a narrow lobe protruding from the lamina parallel with AI, nearly half of its length; AM only a little longer than AI on male pleopod II; pereopod propodi-III and -IV article 6 in adult males only slightly differentiated; dactylus V moderately wide, pectinate.

Variability: In a female of 6.5 mm CL from Obodska pećina, Montenegro, the length of the rostrum is only 25% CL, and it is unevenly serrated with a formula of 4+0/1. Pereopods III–V are similarly rod shaped; dactyli III and IV are very stout, only 2.5 times as long as they are wide, with four or five inner spines.

Remarks: Close relationships between populations in the caves Obodska pećina (Rijeka Crnojevića, Montenegro) and Obod (in Hercegovina) were asserted by molecular analysis. Specimens from Dejanova pećina (Bileća) and Vilina pećina (Cernica; both in southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina) are morphologically similar to the ones mentioned above.

Distribution: This species is established with certainty only in eastern Hercegovina and southern Montenegro.

Figures

Figure 9. Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) prasence sp. nov., holotype male from Obod cave. fSpra, female from Obodska pećina. See the Appendix for a list of abbreviations. Scale bars: see Fig. 4: sA for cp; sB for fcp; sC for all a, t.

Figure 10. Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) prasence sp. nov., holotype male from Obod cave. fSp, female from the same cave. See the Appendix for a list of abbreviations. Scale bars: see Fig. 4: sD for all.

Figure 11. Spra, Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) prasence sp. nov., holotype male from Obod cave. Sne, Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) neglecta sp. nov., holotype male from Karišnica. Ska, Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) kapelana sp. nov., holotype male from Obajdinova pećina. See the Appendix for a list of abbreviations. Scale bars: see Fig. 4: sE for all.