The Solnhofen species Eystaettia intermedius has a fascinating and complex taxonomic history.
It was originally established by Albert Oppel in 1862 under the genus Penaeus, despite the fact that the genus Antrimpos had already been established by Münster in 1835.
Interestingly, Oppel listed Antrimpos tridens and Antrimpos dubius as synonyms, but deliberately chose not to assign the species to Antrimpos.
Nevertheless, the species was later referred to as Antrimpos intermedius, which was clearly a consequence of Oppel’s rejection of Münster’s genus concept for Antrimpos and Kölga as well. Oppel himself stated:
German : “Nehmen wir als Typus der fossilen Verkommnisse die am besten erhaltene und größte Art: Antrimpos speciosus, so ergibt sich durch weitere Vergleiche mit den verwandten Formen lebender Crustaceen die Tatsache, dass die Münster’sche Gattung Antrimpos in Bezug auf alle ihre wesentlichen Merkmale mit Penaeus unserer jetzigen Meere übereinstimmt.“
Translation : “If we take the best-preserved and largest species as the type of the fossil occurrences, Antrimpos speciosus, further comparisons with related forms of living crustaceans reveal that Münster’s genus Antrimpos corresponds in all essential characteristics with Penaeus from today’s seas.“
Finally in 2016 was the species formally designated as the type species of the newly established genus Eystaettia by Schweigert, Garassino & Pasini. Thus, Eystaettia intermedius remains an intriguing and notable taxon.
Oppel, A. (1862). Ueber jurassische Crustaceen. Palaeontologische Mittheilungen aus dem Museum des Koeniglich-Bayerischen Staates. 1: 1-120.
Schweigert, G.; Garassino, A.; Pasini, G. (2016). The Upper Jurassic Solnhofen decapod crustacean fauna: review of the types from old descriptions. Part II. Superfamily Penaeoidea and infraorder Caridea. Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano. 41: 1-40.