Friday, January 30, 2015

[Crustacea • 2015] Australatya obscura • A New Filter-feeding Shrimp (Decapoda, Atyidae) from Taiwan and the Philippines


Australatya obscura  Han & Klotz, 2015

Filter-feeding shrimp with distinctive live colorations were collected from small streams draining to the east coast of Taiwan and from Panay Island, Philippines. Morphological examination revealed that these specimens belong to the genus Australatya, Chace, 1983. In this paper the species is proposed as new to science and described in detail as Australatya obscura, new species. Beside the striking banded live coloration, the new species could be differentiated from Australatya striolata (McCulloch & McNeill, 1923) by a smaller body size, the length of the rostrum, the shape of the pterygostomial margin of the carapace, a row of plumose setae on the outer margin of pereiopods 3-5 and biunguiculated dactyli of the fifth pereiopod. The separation of the genus Australatya from Atyopsis Chace, 1983 and Atyoida Randall, 1840 is confirmed and a revised diagnosis for Australatya is given.


C. C. Han and W. Klotz. 2015. Australatya obscura sp. nov., A New Filter-feeding Shrimp (Decapoda, Atyidae) from Taiwan and the Philippines. Crustaceana. 88(1); 66 – 81. DOI: 10.1163/15685403-00003395