Lebbeus wera Ahyong, 2009

Komai, Tomoyuki, Menot, Lenaick & Segonzac, Michel, 2016, New records of caridean shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda) from hydrothermally influenced fields off Futuna Island, Southwest Pacific, with description of a new species assigned to the genus Alvinocaridinides Komai & Chan, 2010 (Alvinocarididae), Zootaxa 4098 (2), pp. 298-310 : 308

Lebbeus wera Ahyong, 2009

Lebbeus wera Ahyong, 2009: 786 , figs 5–7 (type locality: Brothers Caldera, Kermadec Ridge); 2010: 346, fig. 3B.— Komai et al. 2012: 41 , fig. 5.

Material examined. DS “Nautile”, dive 1774, Kulo Lasi, Futuna, 14°56.5472’S, 177°15.0061’W, 1418 m, 11 September 2010, slurp gun, bottle 4, 1 female (cl 12.9 mm; infested by rhizocephalan), MNHN-IU- 2011-2510; same data, 1 female (cl 6.9 mm), MNHN-IU-2011-5016; dive 1776, same site, 14°56.3514’S, 177°15.5777’E, 1406 m, 13 September 2010, slurp gun, bottle 4, 1 male (cl 10.0 mm), MNHN-IU-2011-3920; same data, bottle 3, 1 male (cl 10.6 mm), MNHN-IU-2011-5034; same data, bottle 4, 3 juveniles, MNHN-IU-2011-5061; dive 1777, same site, 14°56.5574’S, 177°15.0001’W, 1477 m, 13 September 2010, slurp gun, bottle 3, 1 female (cl 9.2 mm; infested by bopyrid), MNHN-IU-2011-5072.

Distribution. Previously known only from the Brothers Caldera in the Kermadec Arc, New Zealand, at depths of 1208–1336 m. The present material extends the geographical range of this species to the north and the bathymetric range to the depth of 1477 m.

Remarks. The present adult specimens agree well with the original description and subsequent accounts of L. wera (cf. Ahyong 2009, 2010; Komai et al. 2012) in every diagnostic aspect. In particular, L. wera is characteristic among the species of the genus occurring in chemosynthetic communities in having relatively more numerous postrostral teeth on the carapace (four or five versus three or less). Lebbeus shinkaiae has three to four postrostral teeth, but the supraorbital tooth in a rostral position will immediately differentiate L. shinkaiae from L. wera .

Lebbeus wera , like Alvinocaris komaii , was found to be associated with the bush of the siboglinid tube worm Arcovestia ivanovi , but also occurs on rocky areas adjacent to vents together with a squat lobster Munidopsis lauensis Baba & de Saint Laurent, 1992 ( Fig. 6 B).

Figures

FIGURE 6. A, image showing individuals of Alvinocaris komaii Zelnio & Hourdez, 2009, living in a bush of the siboglinid tubeworm Arcovestia ivanovi Southward & Galkin, 1997; B, image showing the presence of Lebbeus wera Ahyong, 2009 together with Munidopsis lauensis Baba & de Saint Laurent, 1992, Echionelasmus ohtai Yamaguchi, 1990 and Pyrolycus manusanus Machida & Hashimoto, 2002 in the vicinity of the colony of tube worms. Both images taken at the caldera Kulo Lasi during DS “ Nautile ” dive 1777 - 05, 13 September 2010.