A new species of callianassid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Thalassinidea) from deep-water hydrothermal vents off Taiwan

Abstract

Nihonotrypaea thermophila, new species, is described on the basis of 26 specimens from a hydrothermally influenced field off northeastern Taiwan at depths of 128–320 m. This is the first callianassid shrimp to be reported from deep-water hydrothermal vents, and available data seems to suggest that the new species is vent-endemic. The new species is assigned to Nihonotrypaea Manning & Tamaki, 1998, a genus including three previously described species inhabiting coastal mud or sand flat areas in Japan and its adjacent waters. The new species is unique in the genus in having the antennal peduncle distinctly longer than the antennular peduncle.