A new species of Munida Leach, 1820 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Munididae) from seamounts of the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park.

María De Los Ángeles Gallardo Salamanca,Enrique Macpherson,Jan M Tapia Guerra,Cynthia M Asorey,Javier Sellanes

doi:10.7717/peerj.10531

María De Los Ángeles Gallardo Salamanca, Enrique Macpherson + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10531

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Abstract

Munida diritas sp. nov. is described for the seamounts near Desventuradas Islands, in the intersection of the Salas & Gómez and Nazca Ridges, Chile. Specimens of the new species were collected in the summit (∼200 m depth) of one seamount and observed by ROV at two nearby ones. This species is characterized by the presence of distinct carinae on the thoracic sternites 6 and 7. Furthermore, it is not related with any species from the continental shelf nor the slope of America, while it is closely related to species of Munida from French Polynesia and the West-Pacific Ocean (i.e., M. ommata, M. psylla and M. rufiantennulata). In situ observations indicate that the species lives among the tentacles of ceriantarid anemones and preys on small crustaceans. The discovery of this new species adds to the knowledge of the highly endemic benthic fauna of seamounts of the newly created Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park, emphasizing the relevance of this area for marine conservation.

Highlights

In the present study we describe a new species of Munida for the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park (NDMP), collected during the CIMAR 22 expedition
Main transverse ridges on posterior part of carapace interrupted in cardiac region
The genetic analysis using 16S rRNA sequences suggests that Munida diritas sp. nov. is close to M. ommata, M. rufiantennulata and M. pusylla, all are characterized by having lateral carinae on the thoracic sternum

Summary

Introduction

Recognized by their high levels of diversity and endemism, the seamounts located in the Salas & Gómez (SGR) and Nazca Ridges (NR), in the Southeastern Pacific (SEP), are among the most remote and least explored marine ecosystems (Parin, Mironov & Nesis, 1997; Poupin, 2003; Poupin, 2008; Gálvez-Larach, 2009; Fernández et al, 2014; Easton et al, 2017). Within the Chilean EEZ, the CIMAR 6 cruise (CONA, 2000) and the ‘‘Pristine Seas Expedition’’ (National Geographic OCEANA, 201) multidisciplinary expeditions studied the shallow subtidal zone of Salas & Gómez Island and Desventuradas Islands (DI) and Guyot Stockman (Gálvez-Larach, 2009; Fernández et al, 2014). Each new expedition has added new records and/or new species for science, mainly including crustaceans, echinoderms, fishes and mollusks (Poupin, 2003; Retamal, 2004; Fernández et al, 2014; Easton et al, 2017; Sellanes et al, 2019)

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