NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE GENUS TYPHLATYA (CRUSTACEA, DECAPODA) - FIRST RECORD OF A CAVERNICOLOUS ATYID IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, TYGHLATYA-MIRAVETENSIS N-SP

On several occasions, shrimps belonging to a new species of the genus Typhlatya were collected in a cave in the province of Castellon, Spain . This is the first record of the genus in the Iberian Peninsula. The species is described and the validity, distribution, and zoogeography of the genus, as well as the status of the genus Spelaeocaris, are dis cussed. Former models for the evolution of the genus Typhlatya and its genus group are reviewed, as well as the system of inner classificati on of the Atyidae and its biogeographical meaning. For the age and evo lution of the genus we developed a new model based on vicariance princ iples that involves further evolution of each species after the disrup tion of the ancestral range. This allows new estimations for the age o f the genus. Accordingly, we suppose that other proposals, such as rec ent dispersal through the sea, should be disregarded for this genus. T he evolutionary development of this species is discussed in the contex t of the geological history of the area and the world distribution of the genus, the genus group, and the family.