DNA barcoding and morphology demonstrate that the three nominal species of the Glyphocrangon smithii species complex" represent a single species G. smithii Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock 1891 (Decapoda: Caridea: Glyphoc"

Abstract

Taxonomy of the deep-sea shrimps of the genus Glyphocrangon A. Milne-Edwards, 1881 is often challenging due to intraspecific variations influenced by sex and ontogeny. Molecular analysis of the mitochondrial COI barcode gene of three closely related but geographically separated taxa, Glyphocrangon smithii Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891 from the eastern Indian Ocean, G. amblytes Komai, 2004 from the western Indian Ocean, and G. juxtaculeata Chace, 1984 from Banda Sea, Indonesia, revealed that they have nearly identical sequences and should be considered as belonging to a single species. Glyphocrangon amblytes and G. juxtaculeata are therefore synonymized with G. smithii. A redescription is provided for G. smithii to reflect the variations observed in this now rather widely distributed species in the Indo-West Pacific.