XIANGFEI LIU, Xuwen Wu, YUAN ZHANG, Zhi Wang, YONGFEN DU
Paralamprophaea Salazar-Vallejo, 2020 was erected to accommodate six species within the family Hesionidae. Detailed morphological descriptions of the species have been provided in previous research, while gene evidence is lacking to support the classification. As a marine genus with a trans-oceanic distribution, clarifying the distribution and phylogenetic relationship of Paralamprophaea holds significant implications for understanding the speciation and dispersal processes in marine biology. This study described a new Paralamprophaea species collected from the South China Sea according to morphological and molecular biological evidence, named Paralamprophaea nanhaiensis sp. nov. Morphological characters clearly distinguish P. nanhaiensis sp. nov. from the other six known Paralamprophaea species. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on COI, 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the new species was sister to Dalhousia sp. Future studies are necessary to advance the understanding of biogeographical patterns in Paralamprophaea.