Cubadeutella cavernicola
Creators: name: Ortiz, Manuel
name: Guerra-García, José M.
name: Lalana, Rogelio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Amphipoda
Caprellidae
Cubadeutella
Cubadeutella cavernicola

description: Cubadeutella cavernicola n. sp
(Figs 1–5)
Type material: Male Holotype, Collection of Marine Invertebrate Animals, Center for Marine Research, Universidad de la Habana, Cuba, No. 156, Female paratype, Same collection No. 157. Both specimens were collected from a submarine cave by Dr. Jesús Ortea Rato together with a new species of Elasmopus (Amphipoda, Gammaridea, Melitidae) remaining to be described; rasped material from cave walls; november 2007.
Type locality: María La Gorda, South of Guanahacabibes Peninsula, Pinar del Río Province, submarine cave, Yemall Diver Point, 16–26 m, Cuba (Fig. 1)
Etymology: The specific name is an adjective qualifying the habitat where the species were found.
Description: Holotype male (No 156)
Lateral view (Fig. 2): Head with a pair of dorsal projections. Pereonite 1 fused with head, suture absent. Pereonite 2 with three acute projections dorsally; two small acute ventral proyections laterally at each side. Pereonite 3 with a single dorsal projection distally and a rounded small proyection medially. Pereonite 4 with a small hump dorsally. Pereonites 5–7 smooth. Pereonites 3 and 4 subequal in lenght. Pereonite 5 the longest. Pereonite 7 the shortest.
Gills (Fig. 2): Elongate, length about 3.5 times width.
Mouthparts (Fig. 3): Mandibles with 3-articulate palp; distal article of palp with a setal formula 1-7-1; second article provided with three setae; mandibular molar robust; left mandible with incisor and lacinia mobilis 5-toothed followed by three plumose setae; incisor of right mandible 5-toothed, lacinia mobilis serrate followed by a pair of small plates; molar flake absent. Upper lip smooth, lobes rectangular. Lower lip with well-demarcated inner lobes; outer lobes provided with setulae on apical margin. Maxilla 1 outer lobe with 5 setae; palp with two distal setae and 2 lateral setae. Maxilla 2 inner lobe triangular; outer lobe slightly larger than inner lobe, rectangular. Maxilliped inner plate oval with three setae and a tooth; outer plate about 1.5 times as large as inner plate, with 4 setae; palp 4-articulate, penultimate article of the palp without a distal projection.
Antennae (Figs. 2,4): Antenna 1 about 2/3 of body length; flagellum 22-articulate. Antenna 2 with short setae (no swimming setae); basal article of the peduncle with a distal projection; flagellum 4-articulate, although the two proximal articles are partially fused, and distal one is tiny.
Gnathopods (Fig.4): Gnathopod 1 basis longer than ischium, merus and carpus combined; propodus length about 2 times width, palm with denticulate margin, without grasping spines. Gnathopod 2 inserted on the anterior half of pereonite 2; basis as long as pereonite 2, with a distal proyection; ischium rectangular; merus rounded; carpus short and triangular; propodus elongate, about 1.2 times as long as the basis; palm with a proximal projection carrying one grasping spine, a medial proyection and a distal rounded projections; dactylus elongate.
Pereopods (Fig. 5): Pereopods 3 and 4 subequal, 4-articulate, length about 1/3 of gills. Proximal article as long as the other three combined. Pereopod 5 less robust than pereopods 6 and 7, 6-articulate, propodus without grasping spines. Pereopod 6 and 7 similar in feature, 6-articulate; propodus with proximal grasping spine.
Penes (Fig. 5) elongated, situated medially
Abdomen (Fig. 5) with a pair of appendages 2-articulate, a pair of lateral lobes and a single dorsal lobe.
Paratype female. Similar to the male holotype apart from the following characters: pereonite 3 and 4 with acute projections medially; flagellum of antenna 1 with 20 articles; gnathopod 2 propodus more rounded than in male, with a projection proximally and two projections distally; oostegites on pereonite 3 and 4 without setae; abdomen without appendages.
Remarks. The genus Cubadeutella is close to the genus Deutella. The genus Deutella was established by Mayer (1890) and has been recently reviewed (Guerra-García 2002a, 2002b, 2003). Twelve species of this genus have been described so far: Deutella antonbruuni Guerra-García, 2002, D. aspiducha Gable & Lazo- Wasem, 1987, D. californica Mayer, 1890, D. caribensis Guerra-García, Krapp-Schickel & Müller, 2006, D. incerta (Mayer, 1903), D. indica Guerra-García, 2002, D. margaritae Guerra-García, 2002, D. mayeri Stebbing, 1895, D. philippinensis Guerra-García, 2002, D. schieckei Cavedini, 1981, D. vemae (McCain & Gray, 1971) and D. venenosa Mayer, 1890. The diagnosis of the genus Deutella is (see also Guerra-García 2002a, b): flagellum of antenna 2 two-articulate, mandible molar present, palp 3-articulate; setal formula for distal article 1-x-1, 2-x- 1 or 1 seta, molar present, pereopod 3 and 4 with 1 or 2 articles, pereopods 5–7 with six articles, male abdomen with a pair of appendages and a pair of setose lobes. Consequently, the main differences among the diagnosis of Deutella and Cubadeutella are the presence of 4 articles in the flagellum of antenna 2 in Cubadeutella and 2 articles in Deutella, and the pereopods 3 and 4 four-articulate in Cubadeutella and 1 or 2-articulate in Deutella.
Cubadeutella cavernicola can be distinguished from all the species of Deutella mainly by the combination of the following characteristics: the number of articles in antenna 1 is significantly higher in Cubadeutella (20–22) than in Deutella (7–14); the flagellum of antenna 2 in Cubadeutella is 4-articulate while it is 2-articulate in Deutella; grasping spines are absent in the propodus of gnathopod 1 in Cubadeutella; pereopods 3 and 4 are 4-articulate in Cubadeutella and 1 or 2-articulate in Deutella.
Although the phylogeny and higher classification of the caprellids is still under debate (see Laubitz 1993; Takeuchi 1993), Myers and Lowry (2003) have recently proposed a new phylogeny and classification for the suborder Corophiidea Leach, 1814, which is divided into two infraorders, the Corophiida and the Caprellida, based on a hypothesis of the evolution of different feeding strategies. In their new classification, the superfamily Caprelloidea contains five families: Caprellidae, Caprogammaridae, Cyamidae, Dulichiidae and Podoceridae. The Caprellidae are subdivided into three subfamilies: Caprellinae, Paracercopinae and Phtisicinae. In the present paper we have adopted this classification and have considered the genus Cubadeutella within the subfamily Caprellinae. Cubadeutella, together with Triantella and Protellina are the only genera in the Caprellinae with the flagellum of antennae 2 more than 2-articulate. This plesiomorphic character is typically present in the subfamily Phtisicinae, but not in the Caprellinae. The presence of a higher number of articles also in antennae 1, the pereopods 3 and 4 four-articulate instead 1 or 2 articulate, together with a flagellum of antennae 2 more than 2-articulate indicate that the Cubadeutella is probably, together with Triantella, Protellina, Protoaeginella, Pseudaeginella and Parvipalpina, one of the most plesiomorphic genus of the Caprellinae line.
Although the species Cubadeutella cavernicola could superficially resemble species of Deutella or Triantella, it can be easily distinguished from them in having the pereopod 3 and 4 four-articulate. So far, the genus Cubadeutella is the only one within the Caprellidea in having simultaneously pereopod 3 and 4 with four articles. The closest situation is the genus Paraprotella Mayer, 1903 characterised by pereopods 3 and 4 three-articulate.
description: Published as part of Ortiz, Manuel, Guerra-García, José M. & Lalana, Rogelio, 2009, Cubadeutella cavernicola, a new genus and species of Caprellidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Cuba, pp. 60-68 in Zootaxa 2130 on pages 61-67, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.188374