Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) kapelana, Sket & Zakšek, 2009

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 : 806-807

TROGLOCARIS (SPELAEOCARIS) KAPELANA

SP. NOV. ( FIGS 11 Ska)

Synonymy: Troglocaris ‘forma L’, Gottstein Matočec, 2003; Franjevic´, 2006.

Holotype (dissected): Croatia, Jezerane , Obajdini, Obajdinova pećina cave, ‘Spc-Jezerane-130m’.

Description of holotype male: Body very robust, approximately 26 mm long, CL 8.5 mm, carapace bulged dorsally. Rostrum more than 30% of CL (damaged at the tip), thin and gradually narrowed in distal direction, with long and slightly irregular dorsal teeth> 10+6/0. Eyestalks very small, rounded– conical, with no trace of pigment or facets. Pleon with epimera III–V slightly ventroposteriorly produced, apically rounded; pleonite VI twice as long as pleonite V, 45% of CL, and slightly shorter than telson. Telson relatively wide, proximal width almost 40% of telson length, and only slightly narrower in distal region; with two pairs of dorsal spines close to the margins and approximately (damaged) 13 spines at the slightly convex distal edge; median spines shorter.

Antenna-I basal articles short, less than twice as long as wide; stylocerite very wide, very distant, its sharp tip reaching the top border of article; exterodistal projection of article 1 scale-like and pointed, depressed, reaching beyond one-third of the length of the next article; two distal peduncular articles together shorter than basal article. Antenna-II peduncle not reaching the middle of scaphocerite, which is slightly more than twice as long as it is wide, and with a long outer tooth. Maxilla I with its larger endite slightly tapering, nearly oval, the spinose part 1.3 times as long as wide; palp with one long and one very short seta. Maxilla II with scaphognathite very wide, asymmetrically oval, with ~15 long setae. Maxilliped I with exopodital lobe wide, slightly obliquely cut apically, the narrow flagellum only ~60% as long as the lobe.

Pereopods II, III, and V, long as 68, 130, and 127% of CL, respectively. Exopodites and epipodites well developed on pereopods I–IV. Chelipeds stout, carpus (article 5) distally widened and deeply excavated, chelae moderately thick, propus (article 6) with a large proximally oriented bulge, palmar part as long as fingers, chela in pereopod I longer, and in pereopod II as long as, carpus.

Pereopods III and IV with propus only slightly widened at its distal quarter, which is irregularly densely set with short spines; dactylus slightly curved inside, one-quarter of the length of the propus, with its nail one-third of the article length, and with nine inner spines. Pereopod V with long articles that are rod shaped (not differentiated); dactylus moderately wide, length three times the width, less than one-fifth of the propus length, with a comb of ~30 densely packed spines.

Pleopod-I sympodite in distal quarter of its inner side with a row of very short and thick spines; endopodite with its AI more than half as long as the peduncle; lamina elliptical, slightly longer than it is wide, row of 15 long setae along outer border, and ten shorter setae along mesial border; lamina distally produced into a narrow lobe (with only one marginal seta) surpassing half the length of AI. AI finger-like, originating on the mesial side of the endopodite lamina, at its tip, and approximately half of its length; with about five retinacular hooks distally. Pleopod-II appendages two-thirds as long as the sympodite; AM flat, knife-shaped, with densely set small and sharp spines on distal quarter, a row of five setae along the surface and ~15 setae along its mesial border; AI a little shorter than AM, rod-shaped, subdistally slightly widened, its apical surface oblique and excavated, with approximately 30 hooks. Uropod exopodite nearly three times as long as it is wide, longer than endopodite, with a small tooth and without a spine at the diaeresis.

Variability: In specimens from the cave Rokina bezdana ( Gottstein Matočec, 2003), rostrum has some ventral teeth, with formula (6–13)+(0–4)/(0–3), and stylocerite is somewhat shorter.

Remarks: Pereopods III and IV and pleopod II in specimens from Obajdinova pećina gave the impression of not being fully mature males. However, the high body size and the completed new stage of the pereopod within the old cuticula, which seems very similar to the preceeding one, speak in favour of maturity. The specimens seem to lack a spine at the uropod diaeresis as no trace of its socket could be found. The male pleopod-I endopodite is very similar to that shown by Gottstein Matočec (2003: 103) for an immature male from Rupečica (‘forma-L’), which is ~ 4 km away, on the other side of the same mountain.

Figures

Figure 11. Spra, Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) prasence sp. nov., holotype male from Obod cave. Sne, Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) neglecta sp. nov., holotype male from Karišnica. Ska, Troglocaris (Spelaeocaris) kapelana sp. nov., holotype male from Obajdinova pećina. See the Appendix for a list of abbreviations. Scale bars: see Fig. 4: sE for all.