Specimens of species closely related to the rare deep-sea lobster Thaumastocheles japonicus Calman, 1913 were obtained from recent deep-sea expeditions in the West Pacific. Close examination of these specimens, as well as molecular analysis, showed that they represent two species new to science, with many morphological and significant genetic differences (barcoding gene COI sequence divergences 11.5- 14.8%) between each other as well as T. japonicus. Re-examination of the specimens previously assigned to T. japonicus revealed that true T. japonicus has a more northern distribution, from Japan to the South China Sea and the Philippines. The two new species have more southern distributions with T. bipristis n. sp. Restricted to the Philippines and Indonesia, and T. massonktenos n. sp. Being widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, from the South China Sea to Madagascar and New Caledonia. The genetic data also suggest that T. dochmiodon Chan and de Saint Laurent, 1999 may represent a polymorphic male form of T. japonicus.

BATHUS 1, BATHUS 2, BIOPAPUA, ???msg.security.private???, HALIPRO 1, MUSORSTOM 2, MUSORSTOM 3, PANGLAO 2005, PAPUA NIUGINI, SALOMON 2, TAIWAN 2001

BATHUS 2, BIOPAPUA, HALIPRO 1, MUSORSTOM 3, PAPUA NIUGINI, SALOMON 2

The rare deep-sea lobsters of the genus Thaumastocheles Wood-Mason, 1874 are characterized by having conspicuously unequal first chelipeds, with the right cheliped greatly elongated and pectinate. The five species of Thaumastocheles are mainly separated by the shape of the teeth in the major chelae. Molecular analysis using four genetic markers (three mitochondrial: COI, 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA; one nuclear: ITS-1) on an extensive series of the species of Thaumastocheles from different localities reveals that there is sexual dimorphism and even male polymorphism in the major chelae in at least half of the species, with T. dochmiodon Chan & de Saint Laurent, 1999 being the male form in T. japonicus Calman, 1913. Thaumastocheles dochmiodon is therefore considered a junior synonym of T. japonicus. The other species confirmed as showing sexual dimorphism and male polymorphism is T. massonktenos Chang, Chan & Ahyong, 2014. A revised key is provided for the species of Thaumastocheles. Whether sexual dimorphism and male polymorphism are common phenomena in Thaumastocheles or even all thaumastocheliforms still awaits the collection and discovery of additional material of both sexes.

BIOPAPUA, KAVIENG 2014

Recent deep-sea cruises using Taiwanese research vessels off Taiwan and in the South China Sea yielded seven species of the clawed lobster genus Nephropsis Wood-Mason, 1872. Four species are new records for Taiwan (Nephropsis acanthura Macpherson, 1990, N. holthuisi Macpherson, 1993, N. serrata Macpherson, 1993, and N. suhmi Bate, 1888) and three species are new records of Dongsha (under the jurisdiction of Taiwan) in the South China Sea (N. ensirostris Alcock, 1901, N. stewarti Wood-Mason, 1872, and N. suhmi). Altogether, five and four species of this genus are now known from Taiwan and Dongsha, respectively. The diagnostic characters and coloration are illustrated for most, if not all, of these species.

DongSha 2014, NanHai 2014, TAIWAN 2001, TAIWAN 2002, TAIWAN 2003, TAIWAN 2004, ZhongSha 2015

Nephropsis stewarti Wood-Mason, 1872 is the most common species of the deep-sea clawed lobster genus Nephropsis Wood-Mason, 1872 in the Indo-West Pacific. Morphological comparisons and genetic analyses of extensive material referred to this lobster revealed the presence of three species. The three species differ mainly in body size, development of the intermediate carina on the carapace, position of the lateral pair of rostral teeth, whether the pleonal tergum is granulate, and the spination on the large chelipeds. Nephropsis stewarti is restricted to the western central Indian Ocean, and a neotype is selected to fix its identity. The name Nephropsis grandis Zarenkov, 2006 is revived with neotype selection for the large form found in the West Pacific and northwestern Australia. The smaller form from southern Taiwan and the Philippines is described as Nephropsis pygmaea sp. nov.

KARUBAR, MAINBAZA, PANGLAO 2005

A comprehensive molecular analysis of the deep-sea blind lobsters of the family Polychelidae, often referred to as “living fossils”, is conducted based on all six modern genera and 27 of the 38 extant species. Using six genetic markers from both mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, the molecular phylogenetic results differ considerably from previous morphological analyses and reveal the genera Polycheles and Pentacheles to be para- or polyphyletic. As the splitting of Polycheles has strong support from both molecular and morphological data, two new genera, Dianecheles and Neopolycheles, are erected for those species excluded from the clade containing the type species of Polycheles. The pattern of polyphyly of Pentacheles, however, is not robustly resolved, so it is retained as a single genus. Fossil evidence suggests that fossil polychelids inhabited the deep-sea environments as early as the Early to Middle Jurassic, demonstrating the enduring adaptation of extant polychelid species to deepsea conditions. Time-calibrated phylogeny suggested that modern polychelids probably had an Atlantic origin during the Jurassic period. Since their emergence, this ancient lobster group has continued to diversify, particularly in the West Pacific, and has colonized the abyssal zone, with the deepest genus Willemoesia representing the more derived members among extant polychelids. Differences in eye reduction among extant polychelid genera highlight the necessity for ongoing investigations to ascertain the relative degree of functionality of their eyes, if they indeed retain any function.

???msg.security.private???, BENTHAUS, BORDAU 2, EBISCO, GUYANE 2014, HALIPRO 2, MD28 (SAFARI II), MUSORSTOM 2, MUSORSTOM 7

A comprehensive molecular analysis of the deep-sea blind lobsters of the family Polychelidae, often referred to as “living fossils”, is conducted based on all six modern genera and 27 of the 38 extant species. Using six genetic markers from both mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, the molecular phylogenetic results differ considerably from previous morphological analyses and reveal the genera Polycheles and Pentacheles to be para- or poly­ phyletic. As the splitting of Polycheles has strong support from both molecular and morphological data, two new genera, Dianecheles and Neopolycheles, are erected for those species excluded from the clade containing the type species of Polycheles. The pattern of polyphyly of Pentacheles, however, is not robustly resolved, so it is retained as a single genus. Fossil evidence suggests that fossil polychelids inhabited deep-sea environments as early as the Early to Middle Jurassic, demonstrating the enduring adaptation of extant polychelid species to the deep-sea. Time-calibrated phylogeny suggested that modern polychelids probably had an Atlantic origin during the Jurassic period. Since their emergence, this ancient lobster group has continued to diversify, particularly in the West Pacific, and has colonized the abyssal zone, with the deepest genus, Willemoesia, representing the more ’derived’ members among extant polychelids. Differences in eye reduction among extant polychelid genera highlight the necessity for ongoing investigations to ascertain the relative degree of functionality of their eyes, if they indeed retain any function.

???msg.security.private???, BENTHAUS, BORDAU 2, EBISCO, GUYANE 2014, HALIPRO 2, MD28 (SAFARI II), MUSORSTOM 2, MUSORSTOM 7

A new species of beardfish, genus Polymixia, is described based on three specimens collected in Taiwanese waters and off the Chesterfield Islands of New Caledonia. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: dorsal-fin rays IV–V, 35–37; gill rakers on outer face of first gill arch 3+1+6=10; scales row between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line vertically 6–8 (S1) and posteriorly 12–14 (S2); pyloric caeca 40; snout rounded, with its surface rough and gelatinous, its tip evidently protrude anterior margin of premaxilla; ctenii on body scales arranged in a wedge-shape, forming three rows; 4th anal-fin spine long, 1.0%–1.2% eye diameter; longer dorsal-fin, 49.6–53.0% SL; blackish oral-branchial cavity. Our maximum-likelihood tree based on mitochondrial COI sequences revealed that the new species is distinct from six congeneric species. Our findings indicate the presence of at least six Polymixia species in Taiwan, highlighting Taiwan and adjacent areas as a region with the highest diversity of this genus.

EBISCO

The availability of many topotypic specimens of the deepsea shrimp Glyphocrangon stenolepis Chace, 1984 (Caridea: Glyphocrangonidae) recently collected off of Pratas Island (Dongsha), northern South China Sea, enabled us to establish the true identity of this species. Material previously identified as Glyphocrangon stenolepis from Taiwan and Japan is found to actually represent a species new to science. The new species, Glyphocrangon latens sp. nov., differs from G. stenolepis by the more clearly divided first (submedian) carinae on the carapace in females, better developed carinae on the pleon tergites, and high degree of genetic divergence inferred from the barcode segment of the mitochondrial COI gene.

AURORA 2007, PANGLAO 2005, SALOMON 1, TAIWAN 2001