Kaisquilla Ahyong 2002, n. gen.

Kaisquilla n. gen.

TYPE SPECIES. — Kaisquilla laevis n. gen., n. sp. by monotypy.

ETYMOLOGY. — Named after the type locality, Kai Islands, in combination with the generic name Squilla. Gender feminine.

DIAGNOSIS. — Eye with bilobed cornea, distinctly broader than and set slightly obliquely on stalk. Ocular scales separate. A1 somite dorsal processes with short slender apices, directed anterolaterally. Carapace with anterolateral spine; with faintly indicated LT and reflected MG carinae indicated posteriorly only. Mandibular palp present. MXP1-2 each with epipod. TS5-7 lateral processes single. TS5 without ventral spine. AS 1-5 without MD and SM carinae. Telson broader than long, with three pairs of primary teeth (SM, IM, LT); SM teeth with movable apices; prelateral lobe absent; dorsolateral surface rugose, with short, low, mid-dorsal carina; ventral surface without postanal carina; ventrolateral carina extending posteriorly to base of LT denticle. Uropod protopod with smooth inner margin.

REMARKS

Kaisquilla n. gen. superficially resembles Levisquilla Manning, 1977, and Rissoides Manning & Lewinsohn, 1982, in the rounded lateral process of TS6-7 and reduced dorsal carinae. In other respects, however, such as general habitus, the bilobed cornea, rostral plate shape, absence of a pair of ventral spines on TS5, the blunt hook process on the endopod of PLP1, telson and uropod structure, Kaisquilla n. gen. most closely resembles Anchisquilloides Manning, 1977 and Anchisquillopsis Moosa, 1986. A cladistic analysis of the squilloid genera (unpublished data) shows that Kaisquilla n. gen. is most closely related to Anchisquilloides and Anchisquillopsis. Unlike most other squilloids that have a single lateral process on TS5, Kaisquilla n. gen., Anchisquilloides and Anchisquillopsis share a blunt instead of acute hook process on the endopod of the first male pleopod.