A new squat lobster (Crustacea, Decapoda, Munidopsidae) from the western Atlantic with redescription of Munidopsis expansa Benedict, 1902 and several range extensions

The western Atlantic Ocean harbors a rich fauna of deep-sea squat lobsters that have been intensively studied during the last two centuries. We revise material recently collected by trawls, ROV and submersibles on several expeditions in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Using an integrative taxonomy approach, we describe Munidopsis messingi sp. nov. and redescribe M. expansa Benedict, 1902, the latter species known only from a few records.

Additionally, we report a new record of M. turgida Rodríguez-Flores, Macpherson & Machordom, 2018 for the Gulf of Mexico. This rare species was previously known from only the holotype, collected in the Guadeloupe Islands, Caribbean Sea. We apply micro-CT scanning in the course of morphological illustrations and report barcode data as available.