A new shrimp: Odontonia bagginsi

Two new species of tiny symbiotic shrimps were described, illustrated and named by a biology student at Leiden University. The new shrimps do not reach sizes above a centimetre in length, and were found inside tunicates. It is believed that these symbiotic crustaceans are fully adapted to live inside the cavities of their hosts, which explains their small-sized and smooth bodies. Unlike most Odontonia species, which live inside solitary tunicates, the new species were the first ones to be associated with a colonial tunicate. These tunicates have even smaller internal cavities, which requires the shrimps to be even smaller than their close relatives.

One of the new species is named “bagginsi”, inspired by the famous Hobbit family name “Baggins” featured in the “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” books. The Hobbits possess hairy feet comparable to this species.

For the experts: Two new species of palaemonid shrimp associated with ascidian hosts, Odontonia bagginsi sp. n. from Tidore and Odontonia plurellicola sp. n., from Ternate, Indonesia are described and figured. Through phylogenetic analyses based on both morphological and molecular datasets (mitochondrial Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene and the 16S mitochondrial ribosomal gene) of the genus Odontonia, the phylogenetic positions of the new species have been reconstructed. Scanning Electron Microscopy has been used to observe additional characters on dactyli of the ambulatory pereiopods. Odontonia plurellicola sp. n. appears to be more closely related to O. simplicipes and O. seychellensis, but it differs most notably in the morphology of the rostrum and mouthparts. Odontonia plurellicola sp. n. appears to be the only Odontonia species living inside a phlebobranch ascidian Plurella sp. Odontonia bagginsi sp. n. is closely related to O. sibogae, but differs markedly in the abundance of setae on the propodi of the ambulatory pereiopods. In the present paper, O. maldivensis Fransen, 2006 is regarded as a junior synonym of O. rufopunctata Fransen, 2002 based on both morphological and molecular aspects.