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Issue: Vol. 4138 No. 3: 18 Jul. 2016
Type: Article
Published: 2016-07-18
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4138.3.3
Page range: 474–490
Abstract views: 206
PDF downloaded: 3

The ‘scorpion shrimp’, a new species of the genus Metapontonia (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) from Taiwan, with new generic record from Papua New Guinea

Department of Biology and Ecology and Institute of Environmental Technologies, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, CZ-71000 Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Graduate Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien 97401, Taiwan, R.O.C. National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung, 944, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Crustacea Metapontonia fungiacola Metapontonia scorpio symbiotic shrimp Scleractinia

Abstract

A new species of shrimp Metapontonia scorpio symbiotic with scleractinian coral Diploastrea heliopora is described from Taiwan. The species belongs to the smallest symbiotic shrimps of the family Palaemonidae. It is remarkable by a unique ability to turn its last two pleonites with tail fan dorsally over the 4th and preceding pleonal segments, thus resembling scorpions. For such movement, the respective opposing dorsal margins of the 4th–6th segments are deeply concave. The new species is characterized by a short dorsally directed rostrum, incomplete orbit, semicircular scaphocerite, and medially concave basal antennular segment. The only species of the genus, M. fungiacola, is compared with the new species based on morphology and DNA. Metapontonia fungiacola is for the first time reported from Taiwan and Papua New Guinea. The morphological and colour variability of the species is discussed. The scleractinian corals Platygyra lamellina (Merulinidae), Lobophyllia hemprichii, cf. Micromusa sp., Symphyllia cf. radians (Lobophylliidae), and Galaxea sp. (Oculinidae), are new host records for the species.

 

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