 |
| Teretamon spelaeum
Absar, Mitra & Kharkongor, 2017
|
Abstract
A new species of freshwater crab of the genus Teretamon Yeo & Ng, 2007 is described based on material collected from a limestone cave state of Meghalaya, in the northeastern Himalayan region of India. Teretamon spelaeum n. sp. can easily be distinguished from its congeners by a well suite of carapace and gonopod characters: a relatively wider carapace, setose chelipeds and legs, a highly reduced cornea of the eye, and a diagnostic male first gonopod that has a low rounded median dorsal flap on the terminal joint. The morphology of the new species is clearly adapted for the cave dwelling and is the first true troglobitic freshwater crab known from India.
Keywords: Crustacea, Potamidae, Teretamon, taxonomy, new species, Meghalaya, India
Teretamon spelaeum n. sp.
Etymology. The name refers to the habitat of this species, derived from the Latin, spelaeum, meaning cave. The name is used as a noun in apposition.
Geographical distribution. Teretamon spelaeum is known only from the type locality, the Krem khung cave of Meghalaya state of India.
Parveen Farzana Absar, Santanu Mitra and Ilona J.Kharkongor. 2017. Teretamon spelaeum, A New Species of Freshwater Crab (Crustacea: Decapoda: Potamidae) from A Limestone Cave in Meghalaya, India. Zootaxa. 4365(3); 302–310. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4365.3.2
Young scientist discovers new species of crabs in Meghalaya | The Third Pole thethirdpole.net/2017/05/17/young-scientists-discovers-new-species-of-crabs-in-meghalaya/
