Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Family: | Glypheidae |
Genus: | Laurentaeglyphea Forest, 2006 |
Species: | L. neocaledonica |
Binomial name | |
Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica (Richer de Forges, 2006) | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Neoglyphea neocaledonicaRicher de Forges, 2006 |
Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica is a species of glypheoid lobster, and the only species in the genus Laurentaeglyphea. It is known from a single specimen collected on a guyot in the Coral Sea between Australia and New Caledonia. It is thought to be an active predator with colour vision, unlike its nearest living relative, Neoglyphea inopinata .
Laurentaeglyphea is known from a single adult female specimen, with a carapace 26.6 by 9 millimetres (1.05 in × 0.35 in) in size. [2] In life, the animal is whitish and marked with red patches, especially on the abdomen and the distal segments of the first pereiopods; the markings are much fainter on the carapace. [2]
Laurantaeglyphea has large reniform (kidney-shaped) eyes, more developed in the lower half than the upper. [2] The epistome, behind the two pairs of antennae on the ventral side, is large, but considerably shorter than that of Neoglyphea . [2] Laurantaeglyphea has five pairs of pereiopods, all without true chelae (claws).
The single known specimen of Laurentaeglyphea was collected at a depth of 367–536 metres (1,204–1,759 ft) on Banc Capel (Chesterfield Plateau; 24°45.70′S159°42.13′E / 24.76167°S 159.70217°E ) in the Coral Sea. [2]
The ecology of Laurentaeglyphea is very different from that of its closest living relative, Neoglyphea inopinata . [2] Banc Capel is a guyot – a former atoll with steep sides and a flat top – and is swept by strong currents. There are no sandy or muddy substrates, the surface being occupied by rocks or gravel scree. [2] It is dominated by sponges, including the genus Phloedictyon and gorgonians. Other decapods found in the same trawls including the slipper lobster Ibacus brucei , the crab Randallia and swimming crabs. [2]
On the basis of its large eyes, Laurentaeglyphea is thought to be an active predator, perhaps one with similar hunting behaviour to that of stomatopods. [2] The presence of patterned pigmentation on an animal that lives at a depth of around 400 m (1,300 ft) suggests that it does not live in a burrow. [2] In the clear waters of the Coral Sea, sufficient light penetrates to these depths for a wide range of colours to be represented among the fauna. [2] The eyes of Laurentaeglyphea are thought to be adapted to colour vision, even if it is biased towards the shorter wavelengths (blues and greens). [2]
The collected specimen of Laurentaeglyphea was observed to be very active and aggressive, using its semichelate first pereiopods to attack. [2]
Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica was originally described by Bertrand Richer de Forges in 2006, on the basis of a single specimen (the holotype). [2] He named the species Neoglyphea neocaledonica, where the specific epithet neocaledonica refers to New Caledonia, the nearest land to the site where the holotype was collected. [2] Later that year, Jacques Forest erected the new genus Laurentaeglyphea for the new species, separating it from Neoglyphea inopinata , the only other species in the genus Neoglyphea. [Note 1] The genus name Laurentaeglyphea commemorates Michèle de Saint Laurent, who had discovered and co-described the first Recent specimen of the infraorder Glypheidea. [3]
The two species of living glypheids are considered "living fossils". [7]
The Decapoda or decapods are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 extant species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species. Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp and Anomura including hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, squat lobsters making up the bulk of the remainder. The earliest fossils of the group date to the Devonian.
Reptantia is a clade of decapod crustaceans named in 1880 which includes lobsters, crabs and many other well-known crustaceans.
The Achelata is an infra-order of the decapod crustaceans, holding the spiny lobsters, slipper lobsters and their fossil relatives.
Anomura is a group of decapod crustaceans, including hermit crabs and others. Although the names of many anomurans include the word crab, all true crabs are in the sister group to the Anomura, the Brachyura.
Astacidea is an infraorder of decapod crustaceans including lobsters, crayfish, and their close relatives.
The Glypheoidea, is a group of lobster-like decapod crustaceans which forms an important part of fossil faunas, such as the Solnhofen limestone. These fossils included taxa such as Glyphea, and Mecochirus, mostly with elongated chelipeds. This group of decapods is a good example of a living fossil, or a lazarus taxon, since until their discovery in the 1970s, the group was considered to have become extinct in the Eocene. The superfamily Glypheoidea comprises five families. The two extant species, Neoglyphea inopinata and Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica, are both in the family Glypheidae.
The Cape lobster, Homarinus capensis, is a species of small lobster that lives off the coast of South Africa, from Dassen Island to Haga Haga. Only a few dozen specimens are known, mostly regurgitated by reef-dwelling fish. It lives in rocky reefs, and is thought to lay large eggs that have a short larval phase, or that hatch directly as a juvenile. The species grows to a total length of 10 cm (3.9 in), and resembles a small European or American lobster; it was previously included in the same genus, Homarus, although it is not very closely related to those species, and is now considered to form a separate, monotypic genus – Homarinus. Its closest relatives are the genera Thymops and Thymopides.
Reef lobsters, Enoplometopus, are a genus of small lobsters that live on reefs in the Indo-Pacific, Caribbean and warmer parts of the Atlantic Ocean.
Glypheidea is an infraorder of lobster-like decapod crustaceans, comprising a number of fossil forms and the two extant (living) genera Neoglyphea and Laurentaeglyphea: The infraorder was thought to be extinct until a living species, Neoglyphea inopinata, was discovered in 1975. They are now considered "living fossils", with over 256 fossil species discovered, and just two extant species.
Physetocaris is a monotypic genus of caridean shrimp, containing a single species, Physetocaris microphthalma.
Scyllarides is a genus of slipper lobsters.
Neoglyphea inopinata is a species of glypheoid lobster, a group thought long extinct before Neoglyphea was discovered. It is a lobster-like animal, up to around 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in length, although without claws. It is only known from 17 specimens, caught at two sites – one at the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines, and one in the Timor Sea, north of Australia. Due to the small number of specimens available, little is known about the species, but it appears to live up to five years, with a short larval phase. A second species, previously included in Neoglyphea, is now placed in a separate genus, Laurentaeglyphea.
Nicothoe tumulosa is a species of copepod parasitic on the gills of the glypheoid lobster Neoglyphea inopinata. It was described as a new species in 1976 by Roger F. Cressey. It can be differentiated from related species by the setal formula, and the trunk's covering of small bumps, which give the species its name.
Thymopides is a genus of deep-water lobsters, comprising the two species Thymopides grobovi and Thymopides laurentae.
Cancrinos is a genus of fossil crustaceans closely allied with the slipper lobsters. One species is known, C. claviger from the Jurassic of southern Germany.
Michèle de Saint Laurent was a French carcinologist. She spent most of her career at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, working on the systematics of decapod crustaceans; her major contributions were to hermit crabs and Thalassinidea, and she also co-described Neoglyphea, a living fossil discovered in 1975.
Jacques Forest was a French carcinologist.
Albunea carabus is a rare species of "sand crab" or "mole crab" in the family Albuneidae. It lives in shallow, turbulent waters in sandy areas of the tropical eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Banc Capel is a guyot, or flat-topped underwater volcano, in the Coral Sea.
Limnopilos is a genus of small hymenosomatid crabs endemic to Southeast Asia. The genus was described by Christina Chuang and Peter Ng in 1991, who identified the new species Limnopilos naiyanetri and distinguished it from the closely related genus Hymenicoides. Its true taxonomic classification was debated for several years, but in 2007 the discovery of a new species of crab in this genus solidified the distinction between Limnopilos and Hymenicoides. Many aspects of the genus Limnopilos are still poorly understood. Their ecology and natural history have not been studied in detail, and their reproductive cycle remains mysterious.