A new species of Lysmata (Crustacea, Decapoda, Hippolytidae) from Venezuela, southeastern Caribbean Sea

Abstract

Lysmata udoi n. sp., a new peppermint shrimp, is described from Venezuela, southeastern Caribbean Sea. All individuals were collected from dens of the toadfish Amphichthys criptocentrus (Valenciennes, 1837) in the subtidal zone. This new species can be distinguished from other closely related species of Lysmata by the number of teeth, length and shape of the rostrum, the relative length of the antennular peduncle, and the number of carpal articles of the second pereiopod. The color pattern is distinctive. The fourth abdominal segment almost lacks color, but bears a posterior red thin line with three short forward projections. Morphological and molecular characters demonstrate that L. udoi n. sp. is most closely related to the Gulf of Mexico L. boggessi Rhyne and Lin, 2006 and the Caribbean L. rafa Rhyne and Anker, 2007 and L. ankeri Rhyne and Lin, 2006. Field observations suggest that L. udoi n. sp. is a protandric simultaneous hermaphrodite, with a primary male phase followed by a simultaneous hermaphrodite phase.

Exploring phylogenetic informativeness and nuclear copies of mitochondrial DNA (numts) in three commonly used mitochondrial genes: mitochondrial phylogeny of peppermint, cleaner, and semi-terrestrial shrimps (Caridea:Lysmata,Exhippolysmata, andMerguia)

“…Indeed, previous studies using 16S as a barcode have successfully differentiated among cryptic species complexes in the genus Lysmata , resulting in the description of new species and validation of other species differentiated from one another by minimal but consistent morphological traits (e.g. L. udoi , Baeza et al ., 2009b; L. grabhami versus L. amboinensis , Baeza, 2010a). Studies exploring the feasibility of the mtDNA 16S gene as a barcode in various ornamental crustacean genera (e.g.…”

“…The first two phylogenetic analyses conducted with peppermint, cleaner, and semiterrestrial shrimps demonstrated that: (1) semiterrestrial shrimps from the genus Merguia represent the sister group to a second natural clade composed by shrimps from the genera Lysmata and Exhippolysmata ; (2) the genus Lysmata is paraphyletic, and includes the genus Exhippolysmata ; (3) the monophyletic clade composed of species of Lysmata and Exhippolysmata can be divided into four well‐supported subclades (Neotropical, Cleaner, Cosmopolitan, and Morphovariable; Baeza et al ., 2009a, b; Baeza, 2010a). A third analysis conducted by Fiedler et al .…”

“…For instance, the monophylies of the four currently accepted subclades within Lysmata + Exhippolysmata are confirmed with high support. These analyses additionally support previous results indicating that the genus Lysmata is paraphyletic, as it includes the genus Exhippolysmata (Baeza et al ., 2009a, b; Baeza, 2010a; Fiedler et al ., ). This last observation, however, disagrees with preliminary phylogenetic inferences based on one nuclear gene (Fiedler et al ., ).…”

“…Only 26 of these sequences (all of them 16S ) have previously been used to explore the conditions explaining the origins of protandric simultaneous hermaphroditism (Baeza et al . 2009a, b; Baeza 2010a, b). Most shrimp species were collected between 2006 and 2011 from different localities in Belize, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Venezuela, and the USA (California, Florida, and Texas), or were obtained from various colleagues (see Acknowledgements).…”

“…The aim of this study is to construct a molecular phylogeny of shrimps from the genus Lysmata , Exhippolysmata , and Merguia using the mitochondrial genes 16S , 12S , and COI . This new phylogeny will be used to address the overall evolutionary relationship within and among these genera, and to answer various questions related to the systematic status of several species and clades that have not been fully resolved by previous studies (Baeza et al ., 2009b; Baeza, 2010a, b; Fiedler et al ., ). Nonetheless, the first goal was to explore the phylogenetic informativeness of the 16S , 12S , and COI gene fragments given that an explicit evaluation of the information content of these widely used markers is still missing in most crustacean clades.…”