First records of peracarid crustaceans from the Cayo Matias Ocean Blue Hole, SW Cuba, with the description of two new species

Abstract

First records of peracarid crustaceans obtained from the Cayo Matías Ocean Blue Hole, southwestern Cuba, aredocumented. In addition, two new species of isopod and amphipod are herein described. Gnathia micheli n. sp. (Isopoda,Gnathiidae) and Boca normae n. sp. (Amphipoda, Aristiidae) were associated with filamentous algae at a depth of 20 m.Both represent the first report for a blue hole and the amphipod constitutes the first record of the genus for Cuba and theCaribbean Sea. Three other isopods, i.e. Gnathostenetroides sp., Cirolana parva, and Cirolana crenulitelson, and the cumacean Procampylaspis sp. are documented for the first time from the same blue hole.

First Chemical–Physical Measurements by Multi-Parameter Probe in the Blue Hole of Faanu Madugau (Ari Atoll, the Maldives)

“…Blue holes thus represent natural laboratories to investigate extreme both chemical and physical characteristics and gradients in aquatic ecosystems, and to evaluate their effect on the biotic component [9]. The wide scientific interest that these unique environments generate is testified by the many studies conducted on the blue holes since their discovery; these studies involved multidisciplinary approaches that integrate geology to define the origin and the geological conformation of blue holes, physical oceanography to characterise stratification in the water masses and external exchanges, biology to investigate composition of the benthic communities (including microbial one), and chemistry to define water composition [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

Distribución de los isópodos (Crustacea: Peracarida: Isopoda) del Parque Nacional Arrecife Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México, con dos nuevos registros para el mar Caribe

“…El mismo año, Schotte (2005) describe una especie nueva de isópodo del género Discerceis. Recientemente Ortiz et al, (2012aOrtiz et al, ( , 2012b, describen una especie nueva del género Paraimene, así como el primer registro de los primeros peracáridos en un Blue Hole cubano, en el suroeste de la isla, donde se describe una especie nueva de Gnathia asociada con algas filamentosas. Al año siguiente, Ortiz et al (2013), dan a conocer los isópodos de Tuxpan-Lobos y Veracruz.…”

A new species of Boca Lowry & Stoddart, 1997 (Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Aristiidae) from a mesophotic coral ecosystem off Puerto Rico, Caribbean Sea

“…Until now, just four species are known for the genus Boca: B. campi Lowry & Stoddart, 1997, B. elvae Lowry & Stoddart, 1997, B. megachela Lowry & Stoddart, 1997, all from the Gulf of Mexico, and B. normae Ortiz, Winfield & Varela, 2012, from southwestern Cuba. Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs) are relatively deep benthic habitats found at depths between 30-40 m to 100 m in the tropics (Locker et al 2010).…”