Heteronika paranesisi sp. nov. (Caridea, Pandalidae) from the Caroline Plate seamounts in the northwestern Pacific

During an expedition to the Caroline Plate seamounts in the NW Pacific, one ovigerous female specimen of the genus Heteronika was collected. Heteronika paranesisi sp. nov. is morphologically very similar to Heteronika nesisi (Burukovsky, 1986), which was originally described from western Mexico and re-described from the Indo-Pacific. Morphologically, H. paranesisi sp. nov. can be distinguished from H. nesisi by the length and shape of the rostrum and the armature of the first and second pereiopods. A phylogenetic analysis based on the COI and 16S mitochondrial genes, supported the recognition of the new species and revealed that cryptic species do exist among the complex of populations that are generally reported under the name H. nesisi , which should thus obviously be characterized as “sensu lato”.