Primitive decapods from the deep sea: first record of blind lobsters (Crustacea: Decapoda: Polychelidae) in northeastern Brazil

Ribeiro, Felipe Bezerra

doi:10.1590/s0104-64972015002327

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 11 publications

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“…All extant polychelidan lobsters are included within a single family, the Polychelidae with thirty-nine extant species in six genera which are known worldwide (Galil 2000, Ahyong & Brown 2002, Ahyong & Galil 2006, Ahyong & Chan 2008, Ahyong 2009, Chan et al 2011, Artüz et al 2014. All have strongly reduced eyes, and they are adapted to deep-water environments, and are therefore sometimes referred to as "deep-sea blind lobsters" (Dall'Occo & Tavares 2004, Chang et al 2013, Bezerra & Bezerra Ribeiro 2015, Farias et al 2015) and all of them are restricted to outer slope or abyssal depth (Ahyong 2009(Ahyong , 2012, although rare cases occur as high as 77 m depth (Galil 2000). On average, adult polychelids are most frequently discovered on the sea-bottom from 500 m to 1500 m (maximum up to 5000 m - Galil 2000).…”

Section: Extant Polychelidaementioning

confidence: 99%

Rare fossil polychelid lobsters in turbiditic palaeoenvironments

Audo

Charbonnier

Krobicki

2017

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

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Polychelidan lobsters are one of the rare groups of decapod crustaceans which were first discovered as fossils long before being identified in extant deep-sea environments. As other decapods, their fossil record is highly incomplete, which complicates the reconstruction of their evolutionary history. Another problem hinders a better knowledge of the group: the familial assignments, which can be difficult in the absence of a complete revision of known fossil taxa. As a result, only three fossil Polychelidae have been identified to date, the oldest dating back to the Callovian (Middle Jurassic). In the present study, we consider two rarely studied species, Palaeopolycheles crymensis Levitski, 1974 from the Toarcian-Aalenian (Early-Middle Jurassic) of Crimea (Ukraine), and Eryon neocomiensis Woodward, 1881 from the Valanginian (Early Cretaceous) of the Outer Carpathians (Czech Republic). Our reinvestigations indicate they present several characters typical of Polychelidae, and are actually morphologically quite similar to extant species, notably in the structure of the anterior part of carapace and the small ocular incisions. Two new genera are erected to accommodate them: Tauricheles nov. gen., and Woodwardicheles nov. gen. These reinvestigations show that: (1) the evolutionary history of Polychelidae is much older; (2) Polychelidae have inhabited deep-water for a long time; (3) both species are probably autochthonous or parautochthonous to turbiditic palaeoenvironments; (4) Woodwardicheles neocomiensis nov. comb. is one of the rare benthic macrofossil of the Silesian Basin.

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