AUTHOR=Schnabel Kareen E. , Peart Rachael A. 

TITLE=First record of the family Callianopsidae (Decapoda: Axiidea) and a new species of Vulcanocalliax from the Hikurangi Margin off Aotearoa New Zealand, with a key to species of Callianopsidae

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1412024

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2024.1412024

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>The Aotearoa New Zealand ghost shrimp of the infraorders Axiidea and Gebiidea have never been comprehensively reviewed, with recent work uncovering a diverse regional fauna representing eight of the 14 known families.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Using standard morphological and DNA sequencing tools, the family Callianopsidae is, for the first time, recorded off New Zealand, represented by a new species of <italic>Vulcanocalliax</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The new species was found near hydrocarbon seeps on the Hikurangi Margin, on the eastern New Zealand continental slope, and is only the second species now known in this genus. The single congener, <italic>V. arutyunovi</italic>, is only known from a mud volcano in the Gulf of Cádiz, off the Iberian Peninsula. <italic>Vulcanocalliax</italic> sp. nov. was formerly reported as an unnamed host of a new endemic New Zealand rhizocephalan barnacle <italic>Parthenopea australis</italic> and is here formally described as <italic>Vulcanocalliax beervana</italic> sp. nov.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>The new species differs, e.g., in the shape of the anterior carapace margin (convexly rounded and without elevated postantennal shoulder present in <italic>V. arutyunovi</italic>), the ocular peduncle having a convex anterolateral margin (compared to a straight margin), and the uropodal exopod has a dorsomedian ridge, lacking the elevated anterior portion that is distinct in <italic>V. arutyunovi.</italic> This brings the number of described New Zealand ghost shrimp species to 18. A key to all known Callianopsidae is provided.</p></sec><sec><title>ZOOBANK</title><p>LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4EDE6CE1-B644-4FFB-94CA-C8725A7549DD.</p></sec>