Description of a New Mangrove Root Dwelling Species of Teleotanais (Crustacea: Peracarida: Tanaidacea) from India, with a Key to Teleotanaidae

Abstract

Tanaidaceans collected from mangrove pneumatophores on the west coast of India included females and mancae of a new species of the rare and plesiomorphic family Teleotanaidae, described herein as Teleotanais indiaensisi sp. nov. A key to the species of Teleotanais Lang, 1956 is given. The new species can be distinguished from it two congeners by the following combination of characters: cephalothorax shorter than pereonites 1–3 combined; antennule without pigmentation, distal article incompletely fused with article 4 and with distal and subdistal aesthetascs; fixed finger of cheliped with two ventral, one ventro-subdistal, and four inner setae; uropodal endopod biarticulate.