Tirana Esquete, 2021

García-Herrero, Álvaro, Esquete, Patricia & Cunha, Marina R., 2021, Two new tanaidaceans (Crustacea: Peracarida) from Portuguese submarine canyons (NE Atlantic, West Iberian Margin), European Journal of Taxonomy 740, pp. 55-76 : 66-67

Genus Tirana Esquete , gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8DA0AF85-5BE1-43B5-8510-56C14B79333E

Type species

Tirana vallis gen. et sp. nov.

Diagnosis

Neuter

Body elongate (8.9 times as long as broad). Pereonites subrectangular or subsquare, pereonites 1–3 slightly wider anteriorly, pereonite 6 slightly wider posteriorly. Pleonites without hyposphaenia. Antenna article 2 with dorsodistal spine, article 4 elongate (> 10 times as long as broad). Mandible molar with spiniform prolongations. Maxilliped endites with slender gustatory cusps. Cheliped carpus slender (1.8 times as long as wide). Chela slender (1.8 times as long as broad). Pereopods 4–6 carpus with one spine more than 0.5 times as long as propodus; propodus with ramified subdistal spines. Pleopods well developed, birramous, with long plumose setae. Uropods rami slender (> 5.0 times as long as broad), endopod article 1 about as long as article 2.

Etymology

Following the steps of Błażewicz et al. (2019) for the species of the genus Paranarthrurella , we name the new genus after a folk dance from Portugal named ‘tirana’, object of great traditional and cultural value. Gender: feminine.

Remarks

The new genus presents a combination of the characters that define the other two species of the family, Paranarthrurella and Armatognathia: It shares with Paranarthrurella an elongate body, maxilliped endites with slender gustatory cusps, and an uropod endopod article 1 about as long as article 2, and with Armatognathia it shares the presence of a distal spine in antenna article 2, presence of welldeveloped pleopods, and a molar with spiniform processes. Furthermore, females of (the new genus) have well-developed pleopods, which are present in Armatognathia and absent in most species of Paranarthrurella . Despite being described as “absent” in the diagnosis of Paranarthrurella provided by Błażewicz et al. (2019), illustrations of neuter specimens of P. rocknroll Błażewicz & Jóźwiak, 2019 and P. corroboree Błażewicz & Jóźwiak, 2019 show what seem to be rudimentary pleopods. However, those are significantly different from the ones of Tirana gen. nov.

Tirana gen. nov. also presents unique characters within the family: the antenna article 4 is more elongate (10 times as long as broad) than in the other species of the family (4–5 times as long as broad); the cheliped is more slender (1.8 times as long as broad) than in the other species (<1.6); the pereopods 4–6 carpus spines reach at least half of the length of the propodus; the propodus of pereopods 4–6 have ramified subdistal spines; finally, the uropod rami are more slender than in the other species of the family (> 5.0 times as long as broad, while in the other species is <4.0).