Typhlatya, CREASER, 1936

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 : 791-792

GENUS TYPHLATYA CREASER, 1936

Diagnosis: Paratyine genus with carapace lacking supraorbital, suborbital, or pterygostomial spines, rostrum short, smooth; maxilliped I exopodite with distal flagellum shorter than width of lobe; pereopods I–V with exopodites (V may be rudimentary); male pleopod-I endopodite small, foliaceous, produced into short AI (but see Remarks); male pleopod II AM longer than AI, with long, slender spines in apical half (see Remarks).

Type species: Typhlatya pearsei Creaser, 1936 , with type locality, Mexico, Yucatan, Chichen Itza, cave Balaam Canche .

Other species: At present, the following species are also ascribed to the genus: Typhlatya mitchelli Hobbs & Hobbs, 1976 , Typhlatya dzilamensis Alvarez, Iliffe & Villalobos, 2005 , and Typhlatya sp. Hunter et al., 2008 ( Mexico: Yucatan); Typhlatya campecheae Hobbs & Hobbs, 1976 ( Mexico: Campeche); Typhlatya utilaensis, Alvarez et al., 2005 ( Honduras) ; Typhlatya garciai Chace, 1942 , Typhlatya consobrina Botosaneanu & Holthuis, 1970 , Typhlatya garciadebrasi Juarrero & Ortiz, 2000 , Typhlatya taina Estrada & Gomez, 1987 , Typhlatya elenae Juarrero, 1994 ( Cuba) ; Typhlatya kakuki Alvarez et al., 2005 ( Bahamas) ; Typhlatya iliffei Hart & Manning, 1981 ( Bermuda) ; Typhlatya monae Chace, 1954 ( Puerto Rico: Mona Island); Typhlatya rogersi Chace & Manning, 1972 (South Atlantic: Ascension Island); Typhlatya galapagensis Monod & Cals, 1970 ( Ecuador: Galapagos); Typhlatya miravetensis Sanz & Platvoet, 1995 ( Spain: Valencia); and Typhlatya arfeae Jaume & Bréhier, 2005 ( France) .

Remarks: At least five species from the Caribbean and Mediterranean areas, as confirmed by the previous analysis on molecular evidence ( Zakšek et al., 2007), are grouped with the type species into this clade. We are not yet able to provide a morphological diagnosis for this evidently monophyletic group. The sexual characters are mostly not, or are poorly, described, and the other morphological characters may be present in the same combination within other clades. From a few sketchy drawings we may suppose that the male pleopod-I endopodite is small, plate-like, without or with feebly developed AI. The male pleopod II appendices (which are better presented in the descriptions) match the Diagnosis above, at least in the type species, and in T. monae , T. campechae , and T. garciadebrasi .

The molecular analysis also shows that S. pretneri was erroneously appended to Typhlatya ( Zakšek et al., 2007) . This is most probably also true for T. jusbaschjani , as the ‘ Typhlatya - type absence of carapace spines’ has been shown to be of low predictive phylogenetic value here, and the male pleopod II appendices in T. jusbaschjani are clearly of the Troglocaris type.

Distribution: Molecular markers show an unambiguous relationship between the Mediterranean T. miravetensis and the type species, and thus supports the extension of the geographic range of the genus, from the tropical Caribbean to the western Mediterranean, which was already established using morphological characters ( Sanz & Platvoet, 1995). The second western Mediterranean species T. arfeae is morphologically so similar to T. miravetensis that it is probably congeneric to others.

The appropriate placement of T. galapagensis , with its differently shaped maxilliped I exopodite, and its remote geographical position, has still to be demonstrated. On the other hand, a close relationship of the Australian Stygiocaris with Typhlatya ( Holthuis, 1986) was suggested by molecular study ( Page, Humphreys & Hughes, 2008). If it is real, it gives this phyletic group a true circumtropical or Tethyan character. These are mainly anchihaline species: some are still euhaline, and some are slightly land-locked and limnic ( T. miravetensis ).