The new new shrimp species has been named Macromaxillocaris bahamenis.
(Photo courtesy of Tom Iliffe)
(Galveston)—A Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher has discovered a new family of shrimp in an underwater cave in the Bahamas—believed to be the only cave in the world to house it.
Veteran marine biologist Tom Iliffe discovered the new family in an isolated cave area by chance and has named the new shrimp species Macromaxillocaris bahamenis. The shrimp, smaller than most species at about two inches in length, has no eyes and appears whitish because of a lack of pigmentation caused by the lightless waters of the cave.
Iliffe and colleague Fernando Alvarez of National University of Mexico will have their research about the shrimp published in an upcoming Journal of Crustacean Biology.
"Why is this so exciting? Because the discovery of a new family means that this is a branch of the tree of life that until now we never knew existed," said Fred Schram, editor of the journal. "This is not the first time Tom Iliffe has made such discoveries in those caves. He has a remarkable talent of finding animal species entirely new to science."
Iliffe says several things about the new species are noteworthy, including its habitat.
"The cave where it was found was one that I had been diving into 8 to 10 times on other occasions," he explains.
"On one of my last dives, I believe that air bubbles from our scuba tanks dislodged this new species from cracks in the cave ceiling. It has no eyes and rarely comes out of its home.
"We believe they live only in this one area and most likely in this
one cave, so that makes this find rather unique. It shows how life forms
can be very fragile—these are ancient living fossils but pollution
or destruction of their cave habitat can mean the end of their species."
Discovering news species is hardly new to Iliffe. He has discovered
more than 300 species of marine life, most of them crustaceans, in the
past 30 years and has probably explored more underwater caves—more
than 1,000—than anyone in the world.
"It's not that common to find new groups of life in most other environments on earth, but marine caves continue to yield highly significant discoveries of new life forms unknown from anywhere else," Iliffe adds.
"New species such as this one are like living time capsules. It's likely this type of shrimp has been around tens of millions of years and we're just now learning about it."
Schram said, "When a discovery like this comes to light, it shows us just how little we know about the diversity of life on this planet. It is through the concerted, long-term efforts of Tom Iliffe and his research team that at least this particular habitat is being recognized for the rich diversity of life down there."
Iliffe has investigated and explored underwater caves all over the world,
including Mexico, Belize, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines,
China, Thailand, Jamaica, Iceland, Tahiti and other locations. He has published
more than 150 research papers on marine life in caves. 