elSSN : 2234-8190
elSSN : 2234-8190
elSSN : 2234-8190
First Record of the Sponge-Dwelling Palaemonid Shrimp, Thaumastocaris streptopus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) from Korea
Jin-Ho Park*
Division of Science Education, Biology Education Major, and Institute of Fusion Science, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea
The sponge-dwelling shrimp Thaumastocaris streptopus is widely distributed across tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific. During a 2023 faunal survey in Jejudo Island, Korea, 2 pairs of T. streptopus were collected from the spongocoels of the tubular sponge Callyspongia confoederata at Munseom and Seopseom Islets, marking the first record of the species in Korean waters and extending its known range to the temperate Northwest Pacific. The Korean specimens coincide with the original description in key morphological features, such as the shape and armament of the rostrum, a single well-developed antennal tooth on the carapace, biunguiculate dactyli of the ambulatory pereiopods, as well as subsegmented merus and carpus of the first pereiopods. An illustrated description of the specimen and in situ photographs are provided herein to aid future recognition.
Jejudo Island, symbiotic, Thaumastocaris, taxonomy, Korean fauna