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| Ctenocheloides attenboroughi Anker 2010 |
Abstract
Ctenocheloides, n. gen., is established for a remarkable new species of ctenochelid ghost shrimp, Ctenocheloides attenboroughi, n. gen., n. sp., named after the British naturalist and presenter of numerous BBC nature documentaries, Sir David Attenborough. The holotype, a complete adult female, is presently the only specimen known. It was extracted from a large, mud-cemented piece of rubble collected at a depth of 1.5 m in a mangrove-fringed bay east of Helville, Nosy-Bé, in northwestern Madagascar. Ctenocheloides, n. gen. differs from Ctenocheles, the presumably closest relative and the only other axiidean genus with pectinate cheliped fingers, by the absence of a projecting rostrum, the well-developed corneas, and the shorter and less robust fingers of the major cheliped.
Keywords: Decapoda, Axiidea, Ctenochelidae, ghost shrimp, new genus, new species, Madagascar, Indian Ocean, pectinate fingers
Taxonomy:
Both the genus Ctenocheloides and its single species, C. attenboroughi were described in 2010 by Arthur Anker, in a paper in the Journal of Natural History. The genus name reflects the close relationship of the genus to Ctenocheles, while the specific epithet "attenboroughi" commemorates the British natural history broadcaster David Attenborough. It was originally placed in the family Ctenochelidae, which was later reduced to a subfamily of a broader Callianassidae.
Arthur Anker 2010. Ctenocheloides attenboroughi n. gen., n. sp. (Crustacea: Decapoda: Axiidea: Ctenochelidae), a new ghost shrimp with pectinate claw fingers from Madagascar. Journal of Natural History 44 (29–30): 1789–1805. doi:10.1080/00222931003633219
