Gibbosaverruca weijiai, a new verrucid (Crustacea, Thoracica) species from the Weijia Guyot deep-sea seamount in the West Pacific

Zhibin Gan,Dongsheng Zhang,Xinzheng Li,Chunsheng Wang

doi:10.5852/ejt.2021.739.1273

Abstract

A new species of verrucid barnacle, Gibbosaverruca weijiai sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on specimens collected from a deep-sea seamount, Weijia Guyot, in the West Pacific. This is the third barnacle species reported from Weijia Guyot. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by its extremely long caudal appendage. In terms of shell morphology, G. weijiai sp. nov. is most similar to G. gibbosa and G. sulcata but differs from them by the intermediate articular ridges of its movable tergum and scutum, which are distinctly wider than the axial ridges. The COI and 16S rRNA sequences of the holotype of G. weijiai sp. nov. are presented to support future research, and a key to extant species of the genus Gibbosaverruca Young, 2002 is provided.

Highlights

The family Verrucidae Darwin, 1854 is a species-rich group of asymmetrical sessile barnacles mainly inhabiting deep waters. Young (1998, 2002, 2004) performed excellent taxonomic work on a generic revision of the Verrucidae and described new genera and species
Gibbosaverruca weijiai sp. nov. is distinguishable from all extant species of Gibbosaverruca by having relatively long caudal appendage, which are unique in the genus
In terms of external shell morphology, Gibbosaverruca weijiai sp. nov. is most similar to G. gibbosa and G. sulcata

Summary

Introduction

The family Verrucidae Darwin, 1854 is a species-rich group of asymmetrical sessile barnacles mainly inhabiting deep waters. Young (1998, 2002, 2004) performed excellent taxonomic work on a generic revision of the Verrucidae and described new genera and species. Many of the verrucid species are poorly described and lack any description of the soft body appendages, especially for the species described in the 19th century. This condition causes some difficulties in the revision of verrucid taxa and results in some species with uncertain statuses

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