New Species and New Records of Hydrothermal Vent Shrimps from New Zealand (caridea: Alvinocarididae, Hippolytidae)

Alvinocaris alexander sp. nov. (Alvinocarididae) and Lebbeus wera sp. nov. (Hippolytidae) are described from hydrothermal vents on the southern Kermadec Ridge, northern New Zealand. Alvinocaris alexander most closely resembles A. williamsi Shank & Martin, 2003 from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, differing in rostral, antennular, and abdominal features. Alvinocaris alexander is apparently sympatric with A. niwa Webber, 2004, and comprises part of the type series of the latter. Lebbeus wera is the first species of the genus to be recorded from New Zealand waters and is most similar to other deep-water Lebbeus species including Lebbeus washingtonianus (Rathbun, 1902) and L. polyacanthus Komai, Hayashi & Kohtsuka, 2004, but is distinctive in its five dorsal postrostral teeth. The first records of the alvinocaridid, Nautilocaris saintlaurentae Komai & Segonzac, 2004, from Brothers Seamount, New Zealand, are reported, being previously known only from the North Fiji and Lau basins. Three genera and five species of caridean shrimp are now known from New Zealand hydrothermal vents.