Brazilian scientists from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) have discovered a new species of buffalo shrimp they have named Alpheus Coralvivo, after the Living Coral Project, it was reported.
The crustacean was said to live on coral reefs off the northeast coast of Brazil. It was found in cavities in the limestone skeleton of fire coral and in coral gravel on the southern coast of Bahia and Río Grande del Norte.
The Living Coral Project initiative has been contributing to the conservation and protection of marine communities, particularly coral reefs, for over twenty years.
The scientists studied the animal’s morphology and compared it to other nearby species, and performed a genetic test that confirmed that it was indeed a new species.
“This discovery expands the data on the known biodiversity of animals in Brazil and the rest of the world, and also helps in studying the conservation of marine species,” said researcher Patricia Souza dos Santos, professor at the Animal Biology Postgraduate Program (PPGBA) at UFPE.
The term “stalked shrimp” applies to marine shrimps of the alpheid family, which are usually found between rocks or in holes. The name comes from the fact that this shrimp is one of the most developed chelopods, which, when feeding, produce a bite and a shock wave that can kill their prey.
In the article by Souza dos Santos “Morphology and molecular evidence reveal hidden diversity within the Alpheus obesomanus group (Decapoda: Alpheidae) with the description of a new species in Brazil” it is stated that the new species was identified after analysis of material collected by hand and by diving.
The researchers discovered it at a depth of 12 meters in the coral reef area of Porto Seguro, Santa Cruz Cabrália and Abrolhos, in Bahia, and Parrachos de Maracajaú, in Río Grande del Norte.
“The registration of a new species is in itself an important fact. Especially when it comes to the marine environment, which is still little studied in relation to the terrestrial environment. With each study, new scientific findings are revealed,” Souza stressed.
The research was carried out jointly by the Crustacean Biology Laboratory (LBC) of the UFPE and the Carcinology Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), of the Department of Biotechnology and Systematics of Crustaceans of the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP/USP) and of Environmental Genomics of the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR), all of which were funded by entities such as Facepe (APQ-Facepe), CNPq (Edital Universal) and FAPESP (Projeto Biota FAPESP), it was explained. (Source: Diario de Pernambuco)
— MercoPress