Sisalia, Ortiz, M. & Winfield, I., 2014

Ortiz, M. & Winfield, I., 2014, A new genus and species of Cyproideidae (Crustacea: Peracarida: Amphipoda) from a tropical coral reef, SE Gulf of Mexico, Zootaxa 3795 (1) : -

Sisalia gen. nov.

Type species. Sisalia carricarti sp. nov., present designation. Included species. Sisalia carricarti sp. nov.

Etymology. Named because of the type locality: Sisal Coral Reef System, Yucatan, Mexico, SE Gulf of Mexico.

Diagnosis. Body dorsally smooth; head short, as long as segment 1–2 of pereon combined; eyes well developed; antenna 1 wider than antenna 2, article 1 longer than articles 2–3 combined; palp of maxilla 1 uniarticulate; inner lobe small, with a tiny seta distally; palp of maxilliped 4-articulated; molar well developed, triturative; mandible palp inserted below than level of molar, 3-articulated; article 2 of pereopods 3–7 linear, slender; palm of gnathopods 1–2 subchelate, with oblique palm; posterior margin of dactylus of gnathopods with a row of robust setae; telson subtriangular, entire.

Remarks. Sisalia gen. nov., is morphologically similar to Paracyproidea (excluding the number of articles in the palp on maxilla 1 which are unknown) ( Barnard & Karaman 1991) from Australia, New South Wales. These genera share a mandible palp 3-articulated, mandible molar large and triturative, basis of pereopod 7 rectolinear, and urosomite 1 not elongated or keeled; however, the new genus can be distinguished by a combination of several of the following characters: antennal article 2 dorsodistally not cuspidate in Sisalia gen. nov., cuspidate in Paracyproidea ; telson immense reaching halfway of rami of uropod 3 in Sisalia gen. nov., almost reaching apex of rami of uropod 3 in Paracyproidea ; rami of uropods extending unequally in Sisalia gen. nov., equally in Paracyproidea .

According to Lowry & Azman (2008), genera in the Cyproideidae are diagnosed by gnathopods, basis of pereopods 5–7, and urosomites. Sisalia gen. nov., differs from Hoplopleon , Narapheonoides , Neocyproidea, Pseudopeltcoxa , and Unguja by having mandible palp 3-articulated; differs from Gbroidea and Cyproidea by having mandible molar large and triturative; differs from Hoplopeon and Peltopes by having palp of maxilla 1 onearticulated; differs from all genera (except Cyproidea and Paracyproidea ) by having the basis of pereopod 7 rectilinear; and differs from Austropheonoides , Gbroidea , Hoplopheonoides , Hoplopleon , Moolapheonoides , Narapheonoides , Neocyproidea , Peltopes , Terepeltopes , and Unguja by having the urosomite 1 not elongated. Mayor differences between Sisalia gen. nov., and all genera of Cyproideidae are summarized in Table 2.

The new genus described in this work represents the nineteen genera in the family Cyproideidae and the second recorded from the Intra-American Sea (Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea).