Atyaephyra tuerkayi, Christodoulou, Magdalini, Antoniou, Aglaia, Antonios Magoulas, & Athanasios Koukouras,, 2012

Christodoulou, Magdalini, Antoniou, Aglaia, Antonios Magoulas, & Athanasios Koukouras,, 2012, Revision of the freshwater genus Atyaephyra (Crustacea, Decapoda, Atyidae) based on morphological and molecular data, ZooKeys 229, pp. 53-110 : 76-78

Atyaephyra tuerkayi sp. n. Figs 13-14

Atyaephyra desmarestii orientalis . - Kinzelbach and Koster 1985: 127-134, partim.

Atyaephyra n. sp. 2. - Christodoulou et al. 2010: Fig. 2, partim.

Material examined.

Type material. Holotype: adult ♀ (CL 6.2 mm), SMF 43020, Syria, Nahr Al-Kabir River (Fig. 1, stn 122), at bridge near the coastal road, 5.3.1979, coll. R.K. Kinzelbach (Sequenced specimen: Nah1); Paratype: 1 ♀ (CL 7.1 mm), SMF 43021 same data as the holotype (Sequenced specimen: Nah2).

Description.

Rostrum long, dorsal margin slightly curved in the middle and pointed upwards 6.43-6.66 × as long as high, shorter than or equal to scaphocerite. 19 -23 pre orbital teeth on dorsal margin of rostrum arranged up to tip. With two post orbital teeth and 4-7 teeth on ventral margin of rostrum (Fig. 13A). Carapace smooth with pterygostomial angle not protruding, rounded (Fig. 13B). Pleuron of fifth abdominal segment pointed with an acute posterior angle (Fig. 13C). Telsonwith four pairs of dorsal spines arranged in curved fashion (Fig. 13D). Distal border of telson with 9 spines (5 pairs) arranged in fan-like pattern. Outermost pair of spines shortest, similar to dorsal spines, adjacent pair stronger terminating before the finely setulose, inner pairs (Fig. 13E). Antennulary stylocerite with its tip failing to reach or reaching distal margin of basal peduncle segment. Anterolateral lobe of basal segment short and round (Fig. 13G). Distal segment of antennular peduncle with 1-2 spines (Fig. 13F). Basal lower endite of maxilla densely covered with long simple setae arranged in 18-20 oblique parallel rows. Endite of maxilla 1.58-1.59 × as long as basal lower endite (Fig. 14G). Basal endite of first maxilliped reaching clearly beyond distal end of exopod (Fig. 14F). Distal one-third of terminal segment of third maxilliped bearing 1-6 mesial spines and one subdistal lateral spine near the base of larger terminal spine (Fig. 14H). Armature along flexor margin of dactylus of third and fourth pereiopod consisting of 6-7 and 6-7 spines respectively (Figs 14B, 14D). Merus of third and fourth pereiopod with 4 and 3 spines respectively (Figs 14A, 14D). Armature along flexor margin of dactylus of fifth pereiopod consisting of 28 spines (Fig. 14E).

Size.

Atyaephyra tuerkayi is a large sized species with maximum carapace length to be 7.1 mm for ♀♀

Molecular characters.

A haplotype found in Atyaephyra tuerkayi sp. n. is not shared by any other species of Atyaephyra . Additionally, it differs from all the other species in the following nucleotide positions in the COI gene of Atyaephyra desmarestii specimen Dour1, position 174: guanine (G), position 207: adenine (A), position 246: adenine (A), position 318: thymine (T), position 321: adenine (A), position 339: adenine (A), position 357: cytosine (C), position 372: thymine (T), position 399: thymine (T), position 417: adenine (A) and position 441: cytosine (C). Finally, the mean genetic distances between Atyaephyra tuerkayi and the other species were ranging from 19.7% to 25.7% (Table 2).

Etymology.

Atyaephyra tuerkayi sp. n. is named after Professor Michael Türkay, in appreciation of his contribution to the study of Decapoda.

Distribution.

Atyaephyra tuerkayi sp. n. is found in the Nahr Al-Kabir River situated between Syria and Lebanon (see material examined and Fig. 1).

Remarks.

In addition to the type-material we investigated the morphology of the 23 female individuals (6 ovig.) and 7 males originating from Nahr Al-Kabir River (Fig. 1, stn 122; SMF 12189, SMF 12191, SMF 12192). All the individuals examined (including the sequenced ones) were morphologically identical. However, their placement to Atyaephyra tuerkayi , sp. n. has still to await sequencing. Since no male or ovigerous individual was sequenced observation regarding the form of the endopod of first male pleopod and number of eggs carried by the female were not included in the description. But observations were made in other individuals of the same sample and population and thus given here: endopod of first male pleopod expanded proximally an d with a distal portion elongated and tapering, endopod with 9-16 spines arranged on a slightly curved inner margin and 9-11 setae arranged on outer margin. 430-450 eggs of 0.45-0.50 × 0.30-0.35 mm in size. Maximum carapace length to be 5.7 mm for ♂♂, 7.9 mm for ♀♀ and 7.6 mm for ovig. ♀♀.

Out of the 135 characters examined (see Appendix: Table 1) there were no morphological features distinguishing Atyaephyra tuerkayi sp. n. from Atyaephyra desmarestii and Atyaephyra acheronensis sp. n. However, Atyaephyra tuerkayi sp. n. can easily be distinguished from Atyaephyra orientalis , Atyaephyra stankoi and Atyaephyra thyamisensis by the presence of fewer mesial spines (Fig. 14H) (1-6) on terminal segment of third maxilliped (vs. 10-38 in Atyaephyra orientalis , Atyaephyra stankoi and Atyaephyra thyamisensis ; Figs 4H, 6H, 8H) and by the basal endite of first maxilliped overreaching distal end of exopod (Fig. 14F) (vs. failing to reach or reaching distal end in Atyaephyra orientalis , Atyaephyra stankoi and Atyaephyra thyamisensis ; Figs 4F, 6F, 8F). Atyaephyra tuerkayi sp. n. can be separated from Atyaephyra strymonensis by the presence of 1-3 post orbital rostral teeth (Fig. 13A) (vs. no post orbital teeth present leaving short unarmed proximal gap in Atyaephyra strymonensis ; Fig. 9A) and by the endite of maxilla being 1.58-1.59 × as long as basal lower endite (Fig. 14G) (vs 1.77-1.95 in Atyaephyra strymonensis ; Fig. 10G).