New marine species discovered in Lanzarote

Cave diving always brings new discoveries... And this is what happened in Lanzarote when cave divers found new species of crustacean: Speleonectes atlantida n. sp., the second member of the Remipedia family.

Divers explore the cave tunnel during 8 dives and collected six Speleonectes atlantida n. sp. They were able to find specimens during dives up to 1000m penetration at 30m depth. This new specie looks similar to the Speleonectes ondinae, but shows some differences in body and behaviour.

After DNA analysis, marine biologist confirmed that this one is endemic to the Canary Islands, and assignes to the genus Speleonectes. It has a body length up to 20 mm, with 23–24 trunk segments with a head shield sub rectangular, slightly longer than trunk segments.

Based on the data collected during the Atlántida Expedition, the specialists think that the Corona lava tube is a much more complex cave system than previously assumed. It has an estimated age of 20,000 years, which is relatively young and it may reserve more surprises…

To know more about this discovery: Springerlink.com