Palaumysis pilifera, a new species of cave-dwelling mysid (Crustacea: Mysidacea) from Okinawa, southwestern Japan, with an additional note on P. simonae Bacescu & Iliffe, 1986

Abstract

A new species of Palaumysis, P. pilifera, the fourth species of the genus, is reported from two submarine caves of Okinawa, southwestern Japan. The new species closely resemble the two species previously reported from the Pacific by possessing a multi-segmented inner flagellum in the antennule, but it differs from them in having the terminal spine of the male fourth pleopod bearing rows of fine setules (or hairs) near midlength, as opposed to a naked spine in the latter two species. The present discovery extends the geographical limit of the genus further north to 26 ° N in the western North Pacific. Additional information on the colour pattern and ecological feature of P. simonae BĂcescu & Iliffe, 1986, are provided on the basis of newly collected material from a submarine cave on Palau.