A new species of the stygobiotic blind prawn Typhlocaris Calman, 1909 (Decapoda, Palaemonidae, Typhlocaridinae) from Israel

A fourth species of the stygobiotic blind prawn genus, Typhlocaris Calman, 1909 is described as T. ayyaloni n. sp. and illustrated in detail. The description is based on 18 specimens collected in a brackish, sulfidic warm-water pool in the 'Ayyalon Cave', a recently discovered karstic complex in Israel. Morphological comparison with congeners and some preliminary data on the behaviour of the new species and on its hypogeic habitat are also brought in brief. As no egg-bearing females were observed in the cave throughout an entire year, it is assumed that the warm and sulfidic water pool is only a feeding ground and that the prawn reproduces in some as yet unknown underground cavities, with presumably more appropriate environmental conditions.