Laurentaeglyphea

Laurentaeglyphea is known from a single adult female specimen, with a carapace 26.6 by 9 millimetres (1.05 in × 0.35 in) in size.[2] In life, the animal is whitish and marked with red patches, especially on the abdomen and the distal segments of the first pereiopods; the markings are much fainter on the carapace.[2]

Laurantaeglyphea has large reniform (kidney-shaped) eyes, more developed in the lower half than the upper.[2] The epistome, behind the two pairs of antennae on the ventral side, is large, but considerably shorter than that of Neoglyphea.[2] Laurantaeglyphea has five pairs of pereiopods, all without true chelae (claws).

The single known specimen of Laurentaeglyphea was collected at a depth of 367–536 metres (1,204–1,759 ft) on Banc Capel (Chesterfield Plateau; 24°45.70′S 159°42.13′E) in the Coral Sea.[2]

The ecology of Laurentaeglyphea is very different from that of its closest living relative, Neoglyphea inopinata.[2] Banc Capel is a guyot – a former atoll with steep sides and a flat top – and is swept by strong currents. There are no sandy or muddy substrates, the surface being occupied by rocks or gravel scree.[2] It is dominated by sponges, including the genus Phloedictyon and gorgonians. Other decapods found in the same trawls including the slipper lobster Ibacus brucei, the crab Randallia and swimming crabs.[2]

On the basis of its large eyes, Laurentaeglyphea is thought to be an active predator, perhaps one with similar hunting behaviour to that of stomatopods.[2] The presence of patterned pigmentation on an animal that lives at a depth of around 400 m (1,300 ft) suggests that it does not live in a burrow.[2] In the clear waters of the Coral Sea, sufficient light penetrates to these depths for a wide range of colours to be represented among the fauna.[2] The eyes of Laurentaeglyphea are thought to be adapted to colour vision, even if it is biased towards the shorter wavelengths (blues and greens).[2]

The collected specimen of Laurentaeglyphea was observed to be very active and aggressive, using its semichelate first pereiopods to attack.[2]

Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica was originally described by Bertrand Richer de Forges in 2006, on the basis of a single specimen (the holotype).[2] He named the species Neoglyphea neocaledonica, where the specific epithet neocaledonica refers to New Caledonia, the nearest land to the site where the holotype was collected.[2] Later that year, Jacques Forest erected the new genus Laurentaeglyphea for the new species, separating it from Neoglyphea inopinata, the only other species in the genus Neoglyphea.[Note 1] The genus name Laurentaeglyphea commemorates Michèle de Saint Laurent, who had discovered and co-described the first Recent specimen of the infraorder Glypheidea.[3]

The two species of living glypheids are considered "living fossils".[7]