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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

On the family Caridionidae fam. nov., with the description of a new species from the Mediterranean Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda)

  • Hossein Ashrafi
  • Pierre Chevaldonné
  • Sammy de Grave
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Abstract

The hippolytoid shrimp genus Caridion has long had an uncertain systematic position and traditionally has been assigned to Hippolytidae despite the currently perceived non-monophyly of that family. Until now, the genus included two recognised species, C. gordoni and C. steveni , both known from North Atlantic waters, whereas several larval and adult records from the Mediterranean Sea have remained taxonomically unresolved. Here, we describe a new species of Caridion from the western Mediterranean. The new species differs from its congeners by the shape and dentition of the rostrum, the relative length of the third maxilliped, the gill formula, the colour pattern, and its cave-associated ecology. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of four gene fragments, Caridion is recovered outside Hippolytidae and Thoridae, and a new monotypic family, Caridionidae, is established to accommodate the genus. Although uncommon, Caridion epitelum sp. nov. appears to be widespread at least in the western Mediterranean. It has remained undescribed to date because of its cryptic habitat, general taxonomic confusion in the genus and potentially its general resemblance, at least in situ , to common Mediterranean cave-dwelling shrimp, such as Lysmata nilita .

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{ashrafi2026family,
  title = {{On the family Caridionidae fam. nov., with the description of a new species from the Mediterranean Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda)}},
  author = {Hossein Ashrafi and Pierre Chevaldonné and Sammy de Grave},
  journal = {Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1017/s0025315426101611},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05853570v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - On the family Caridionidae fam. nov., with the description of a new species from the Mediterranean Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda)
AU  - Hossein Ashrafi
AU  - Pierre Chevaldonné
AU  - Sammy de Grave
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
JO  - Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
DO  - 10.1017/s0025315426101611
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05853570v1
AB  - The hippolytoid shrimp genus Caridion has long had an uncertain systematic position and traditionally has been assigned to Hippolytidae despite the currently perceived non-monophyly of that family. Until now, the genus included two recognised species, C. gordoni and C. steveni , both known from North Atlantic waters, whereas several larval and adult records from the Mediterranean Sea have remained taxonomically unresolved. Here, we describe a new species of Caridion from the western Mediterranean. The new species differs from its congeners by the shape and dentition of the rostrum, the relative length of the third maxilliped, the gill formula, the colour pattern, and its cave-associated ecology. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of four gene fragments, Caridion is recovered outside Hippolytidae and Thoridae, and a new monotypic family, Caridionidae, is established to accommodate the genus. Although uncommon, Caridion epitelum sp. nov. appears to be widespread at least in the western Mediterranean. It has remained undescribed to date because of its cryptic habitat, general taxonomic confusion in the genus and potentially its general resemblance, at least in situ , to common Mediterranean cave-dwelling shrimp, such as Lysmata nilita .
SN  - 0025-3154
SN  - 1469-7769
ER  -