Designation of a new genus Michaelimenes (Decapoda: Caridea: Palaemonidae), with new host record and range extension of its type species, M. perlucidus (Bruce, 1969)

Abstract A new palaemonid shrimp genus, Michaelimenes n. gen., is established for three Indo-West Pacific species, Periclimenes latipollex Kemp, 1922, Periclimenes perlucidus Bruce, 1969 (type species) and Periclimenes platydactylus Li, 2008. The present new genus can be immediately distinguished from other related genera by the combination of the second pereiopod with the dorsal flange on the dactylus, the proximal excavation on the fixed finger and the smooth propodus, and the unarmed, non-subspatulate fingers of the first pereiopod. The type species, Michaelimenes perlucidus, is recorded from Japan for the first time on the basis of 34 specimens associated with the alcyonacean genus Chironephthya Studer, 1887. The intraspecific morphological variation and host specificity of M. perlucidus are commented upon. Periclimenes involens Bruce, 1996 is regarded as a junior synonym of M. perlucidus