Mislabeling and nomenclatorial confusion of Typhlotanais sandersi Kudinova-Pasternak, 1985 (Crustacea: Tanaidacea) and establishment of a new genus

Abstract

Re-examination of historical collections allowed us to resolve the taxonomic status of Typhlotanais sandersi Kudinova-Pasternak, 1985, originally described based on a single specimen from Great-Meteor Seamount. The holotype of this species was considered lost and the species redescribed based on a second specimen from the type locality by Błażewicz-Paszkowycz (2007a), who placed Ty. sandersi on a newly established genus Typhlamia. Thorough morphological analysis of Typhlamia and Typhlotanais species and recently obtained genetic data of typhlotanaids from N Atlantic and NW Pacific waters allow us to conclude that the redescription of Ty. sandersi by Błażewicz-Paszkowycz (2007a) was based on a wrongly labelled specimen that, rather than a type of Ty. sandersi, represents in fact a new species of Typhlamia. The morphological comparison of the type species of Typhlotanais (Ty. aequiremis) with all ‘long-bodied’ typhlotanaid taxa with rounded pereonites margins (i.e., Typhlamia, Pulcherella, Torquella), and the use of genetic evidence, support the establishment of a new genus to accommodate: Ty. sandersi, Ty. angusticheles Kudinova-Pasternak, 1989, and a third species from N Atlantic waters, that is described here for the first time. Current knowledge on ‘long-bodied’ typhlotanaids with rounded pereonites is summarised and a taxonomical key for their identification provided.