Middle East Caridina (Decapoda: Atyidae): Redescription of C. fossarum Heller, 1862, description of three new species, and remarks on the status of C. syriaca Bouvier, 1904 and C. babaulti basrensis Al-Adhub & Hamzah, 1987

Publication date: November 2019Source: Zoologischer Anzeiger, Volume 283Author(s): Werner Klotz, Thomas von Rintelen, Magdalini ChristodoulouAbstractThe most species-rich genus, Caridina, of the shrimp family Atyidae is broadly distributed throughout five biogeographic realms, with the Indo-Malayan realm being the centre of its distributional range. Due to the scarcity of studies, very little is known regarding the Middle East species, which are placed on the north-western edge of the genus’ distribution. Numerous museum specimens from across the entire range of Caridina in the Middle East were thus analysed using morphological characters and mitochondrial sequences (16S) in order to gain insight into the biodiversity of the genus in the region. Consequently, the present study describes three new atyid species of the genus Caridina H. Milne Edwards, 1837, Caridina enbilului sp. nov., Caridina enkii sp. nov. and Caridina shahrazadae sp. nov. from freshwater habitats of Syria, Iraq and Iran respectively. Furthermore, Caridina fossarum Heller, 1862 is redescribed, while the taxonomic status of Caridina syriaca Bouvier, 1904 and Caridina babaulti basrensis Al-Adhub & Hamzah, 1987 is discussed and the latter synonymized with Caridina fernandoi Arudpragasam & Costa, 1962. C. shahrazadae sp. nov. differs from its congener C. fossarum by the reduced branchial formula of the latter species, the absence of an appendix interna at the endopod of the male's first pleopod, and the lack...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - Category: Zoology Source Type: research