Neogonodactylus zacae

The species was originally described by Raymond B. Manning in 1972 as Gonodactylus zacae.^[1] It was later moved to the genus Neogonodactylus, which was established by Manning in 1995 to accommodate New World species of the family.^[3][4]

Neogonodactylus zacae is one of eight species in its genus known from the eastern Pacific. It is distinguished from most other eastern Pacific Neogonodactylus species by its telson (tail section), which is not of the "Oerstedii-type".

The holotype for this species was collected at Port Guatulco (likely Huatulco), Mexico, and is housed in the American Museum of Natural History. Its range extends from the southwestern Gulf of California (Mazatlán) to the coast of Oaxaca. Like other members of its family, it is a predatory marine crustacean that typically inhabits shallow tropical waters.