Galatheacaris

Galatheacaris abyssalis is a rare species of shrimp, now thought to be a larval stage of another genus, Eugonatonotus.

Galatheacaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Infraorder:	Caridea
Superfamily:	Galatheacaridoidea Vereshchaka, 1997
Family:	Galatheacarididae Vereshchaka, 1997
Genus:	Galatheacaris Vereshchaka, 1997
Species:	G. abyssalis
Binomial name
Galatheacaris abyssalis Vereshchaka, 1997

It was described in 1997 on the basis of a single specimen caught in the Celebes Sea at a depth of 5,000 metres (16,000 ft). It was seen to be so different from previously known shrimp species that a new family, Galatheacarididae, and superfamily, Galatheacaridoidea, were erected for it.^[1] Later, more specimens were found in the stomach of a lancetfish, Alepisaurus ferox.^[2]

The species shares some plesiomorphies with Procaris, and the two taxa were thought to be closely related.^[3] Molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that Galatheacaris abyssalis had such similar mitochondrial DNA to that of Eugonatonotus chacei that the two must be considered conspecific; it is now thought that Galatheacaris is the megalopa stage of Eugonatonotus.^[4]