Belzebub (crustacean)

Belzebub is a genus of prawns in the family Luciferidae. The species which make up the genus Belzebub were formerly placed in the genus Lucifer but were separated to form Belzebub after a cladistic analysis.[2] They are very small planktonic and benthic prawns with an extreme lateral compression of the carapace with elongated mandibles and anteriors of the pereiopods but lacking pereiopods 4 and 5 and any gills. The pereiopods either lack chelae or they are substantially reduced. The sixth abdominal segment of males has two ventral processes and the telson has a strong ventral process.[3]

Belzebub
Belzebub hanseni
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Dendrobranchiata
Family: Luciferidae
Genus: Belzebub
Vereshchaka, Olesen & Lunina, 2016
Type species
Belzebub hanseni
Nobili, 1905 (type by original designation)[1]

Distinction from Lucifer

Belzebub is distinguished from the related Lucifer by have medium length eyestalks and by both sexes having similar eyes, in the species in Lucifer there is sexual dimorphism in the size of the eyes. In addition, the ventral process of the two on the male's sixth segment is straight and tapering rather than curved and obtuse.[2]

Etymology

The generic name Belzebub is derived from an older English version of the biblical Beelzebub and the authors of the name used this version as it was shorter than others. They chose it because it is an alternative name for the devil who is also referred to as Lucifer, although in the case of the genus Lucifer the name literally means "light bearer" in Latin referring to the bioluminescence produced by the prawns in that genus.[2]

Species

There are 5 species which make up the genus Belzebub:[1][2]

  • Belzebub chacei (Bowman, 1967) - east coast of South Africa and Madagascar east to Hawaii.
  • Belzebub faxoni (Borradaile, 1915) - Western Atlantic from Long Island Sound south to Rio de Janeiro, also recorded off West Africa.
  • Belzebub hanseni (Nobili, 1905) - from Madagascar and the Red Sea, east to the South China Sea and the South Pacific including Tasmania. It has also now been reported in the Mediterranean, probably as a Lessepsian migrant through the Suez Canal.
  • Belzebub intermedius (Hansen, 1919) - from the Gulf of Oman east to Japan.
  • Belzebub penicillifer (Hansen, 1919) - Indian Ocean, east to the Philippines and northern Australia.

References
  1. S. De Grave (2016). "Belzebub Vereshchaka, Olesen & Lunina, 2016". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  2. Alexander L. Vereshchaka; Jørgen Olesen; Anastasia A. Lunina (2016). "A phylogeny-based revision of the family Luciferidae (Crustacea: Decapoda)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 178: 15–32. doi:10.1111/zoj.12398.
  3. Gary C. B. Poore (2004). Marine Decapod Crustacea of Southern Australia: A Guide to Identification. CSIRO Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 0643069062.
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