A new species of the genus Periclimenes (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae) collected from hydrothermal vent fields in Kagoshima Bay, Japan

Abstract

Based on material collected from shallow hydrothermal vent fields in Kagoshima Bay, southern Japan, a new species of the sub family Pontoniinae, Periclimenes thermohydrophilus, is described and illustrated. A combination of several characters distinguishes the present new species from all other members of this genus. A short and narrow rostrum without basal crest, an isolated epigastric spine, a submarginal antennal spine and a long carpus of the second pereopod are characteristics of the new species. The relationship between this shrimp and host tube worms is briefly discussed.