| Abstract |
A new crangonid shrimp and its four zoeal stages are described and illustrated in detail from Okinawa Island, Japan. The new species of Vercoia is readily distinguished from V. gibbosa Baker, 1904, V. socotrana Duris, 1992 and V. japonica Komai, 1995, in adult morphology, by the bilobed anterior expansion of the hepatic carina of the carapace, the notched mid-dorsal carina on the fifth abdominal somite, and the presence of the distoventral tooth on the ischium of the second pereopod. The larvae of the new species which are the first larvae of a species assigned to Vercoia to be described, are very similar to those of species of Philocheras, but they differ in the setation of the endopods of the maxillule and maxilla. A key to the adult species of Vercoia is provided. |
Kim, J.N. and Y. Fujita (2004) A new species of the genus Vercoia from Okinawa Island, Japan (Crustacea, Decapoda, CAridea, Crangonidae), with descriptions of its zoeal stages. Journal of Natural History 38: 2013–2031. 