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| Kiwa hirsuta n. gen., n. sp. | specimen on pillow lava, near the vent site Pâle Étoile |
Abstract
A new monotypic family, Kiwaidae n. fam., is proposed for Kiwa hirsuta n. gen., n. sp., new genus and new species collected in hydrothermal vents of the Pacific-AntarcticRidge, south of Easter Island. The new family belongs to the superfamily Galatheoidea, having similarities with the family Chirostylidae, but with distinctive characters including carapace shape and ornamentation, insertion of fifth pereopod not visible and situated below sternal plastron, sternite between third maxillipeds large and strongly produced anteriorly; eyes strongly reduced, antennal scale absent and chelipeds and walking legs with dense mat of setae. Molecular data (18S rRNA) gene confirm the clear difference between anomuran families, placing the new taxa closer to the families Chirostylidae, Galatheidae and Porcellanidae than to Aeglidae.
Key words: Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura, Galatheoidea, Kiwaidae n. fam., Kiwa n. gen., hydrothermal vents, Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, new family, new genus, new species.
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| FIG. 2. — Kiwa hirsuta n. gen., n. sp., in situ observations; A, two specimens on vent site Annie’s Anthill, with crabs Bythograea sp., on mussel bed Bathymodiolus sp.; B, one specimen on pillow lava, near the vent site Pâle Étoile. Photographs taken by the submarine Alvin in March 2004 (SEPR), copyright MBARI/PAR 5/B. Vrijenhoek |
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| FIG. 3. — Kiwa hirsuta n. gen., n. sp. male holotype (MNHN-Ga 5310); A, dorsal view; B, ventral view. |
Macpherson E., Jones W. & Segonzac M. 2005. A new squat lobster family of Galatheoidea (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura) from the hydrothermal vents of the Pacific - Antarctic Ridge. Zoosystema. 27 (4) : 709-723.
