Mayaweckelia troglomorpha, a new subterranean amphipod species from Yucatán state, México (Amphipoda, Hadziidae)

By

Angyal, Dorottya
Chávez Solís, Efraín
Magana, Benjamin
Balázs, Gergely
Simões, Nuno

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

735

Pages

1-25

Subjects

cenote , Description , endemic , Hadziidae , mitochondrial marker , Morphology , SEM , sinkhole , subterranean

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.735.21164

 

Abstract

A detailed description of a new stygobiont species of the amphipod family Hadziidae, Mayaweckelia troglomorpha Angyal, sp. n. is given, based on material collected in four cenotes of Yucatán federal state, México. Morphology was studied under light microscopy and with scanning electron microscopy. Morphological description is complemented with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences as barcodes, with affinities to the related taxa and with notes on the species’ ecology. Using COI Bayesian inference and genetic distance analyses, we show that the closest relative of the new species is M. cenoticola, forming a monophyletic group referring to the genus Mayaweckelia. Based on the available sequences, we also revealed that Mayaweckelia and Tuluweckelia are sister genera, standing close to the third Yucatán subterranean genus, Bahadzia. The data gathered on the habitat, distribution, abundance, and ecology will contribute to the conservation planning for M. troglomorpha Angyal, sp. n.