Parabogidiella Shrimp

Parabogidiella ??

I just love new species, don't you? And today's animal is so new that it doesn't even have a species name yet!

Meet the newest member of the Parabogidiella genus. This tiny little half-inch Shrimp-like creature was discovered just last month in an underground pool in New Mexico.

Like many cave dwellers it lacks skin pigmentation, and it is also blind. Scientists found it in a subterranean body of water in the Carlsbad Caverns. The cave has been explored before, but this is the first time water samples were taken. These little Crustaceans were down there this whole time, and may have been in that cave for thousands of years, right under our noses!

There isn't much else to say, yet, about this new critter. But fingers are crossed that it will get a name soon!

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : New Mexico
Size : Length around .5in (1.3cm)

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Malacostraca -- Order : Amphipoda
Family : Bogidiellidae -- Genus : Parabogidiella -- Species : P. ?