Palaemonella shirakawai, a new species of shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae), associated with burrow dwelling opistognathid fish from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

Abstract

A new palaemonid shrimp, Palaemonella shirakawai sp. nov., is described and illustrated on the basis of a single ovigerous female specimen captured from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. It appears closest to P. aliska Marin by sharing the median carina of the carapace armed with dorsal rostral teeth extending posterior to the level of the hepatic tooth, but is immediately differentiated by the shorter rostrum, a rounded posterior margin of the telson, an elongate antennal scaphocerite with a truncate distal margin of lamella, and the longer second pereiopod. The present new species is an associate of burrow dwelling fishes belonging to the family Opistognathidae.