Abstract
Remipedia is a stygobitic group commonly associated with coastal anchialine caves. This class consists of 12 genera, ten of which are found within the Lucayan Archipelago. Herein, we describe a new species within the genus Godzillius from Conch Sound Blue Hole, North Andros Island, Bahamas. Godzillius louriei sp. nov. is the third known remipede observed from a subseafloor marine cave, and the first from the Godzilliidae. Remipedes dwell within notoriously difficult to access cave habitats and thus integrative and comprehensive systematic studies at family or genus level are often absent in the literature. In this study, all species of Godzillius are compared using morphological and molecular approaches. Specifically, the feeding appendages of G. louriei sp. nov., G. fuchsi Gonzalez, Singpiel & Schlagner, 2013 and G. robustus Schram, Yager & Emerson, 1986 were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Species of Godzillius are identified based on the spines of maxilla 1 segment 4 and by the denticles on the lacinia mobilis of the left mandible. A molecular phylogeny using the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and nuclear histone 3 genes recovered G. louriei sp. nov. within the Godzillius clade and 16S genetic distances revealed a 13–15% difference between species of Godzillius.
Highlights
The crustacean class Remipedia is an enigmatic stygobitic group consisting of 29 species, 12 genera and eight families
All members of Godzillius are found within the Lucayan Archipelago and are known to inhabit anchialine cave systems
We found the mxp of all three species to be composed of 9 segments (Fig. 10), modifying the previous descriptions of G. robustus and G. fuchsi, where fewer proximal segments were identified
Summary
The crustacean class Remipedia is an enigmatic stygobitic group consisting of 29 species, 12 genera and eight families. Remipedes exhibit a globally disjunct distribution, inhabiting submerged cave systems in the Caribbean, West Atlantic Ocean, Canary Islands and Western Australia (Koenemann & Iliffe 2014). A majority of remipedes (20 of 29 species) are reported from the Lucayan Archipelago (Bahamas and Turks and Caicos), suggesting a potential biodiversity hotspot for the group (Reid 1998). All members of Godzillius are found within the Lucayan Archipelago and are known to inhabit anchialine cave systems. Godzillius robustus occurs exclusively in Cottage Pond, North Caicos Island, Turks and Caicos Islands, while G. fuchsi inhabits the Dan’s Cave and Ralph’s Sink sections of the Dan’s Cave System, Abaco Island, Bahamas (Fig. 1). Recent exploration of a subseafloor marine cave off Andros Island, Bahamas, revealed an unknown member of the genus Godzillius, described here
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