TETHYSBAENA N.SP., A NEW THERMOSBAENACEAN SPECIES (CRUSTACEA, THERMOSBAENACEA) FROM THE PORT-MIOU KARSTIC AQUIFER IN SOUTHERN FRANCE. Tethysbaena Port-Miou

A new species of the Thermosbaenacean genus Tethysbaena Wagner,1994 is described. Together with a yet undescribed amphipod (Niphargus sp.) it is an inhabitant of the brackish water of an aquifer that flows through the Basse-Provence Urgonian karstic system and reaches the Mediterranean Sea, 15 km east of Marseille, in the “Calanques” coast. The new taxon, being part of the T. argentarii-group, is compared with its closest allies in this group. Preliminary DNA data obtained from two specimens of the new species provides confirmation of its close ties to T. argentarii but also to T. scabra, the two geographically closest described species.