Phoxocephalus rupullus

Phoxocephalus rupullus

DESCRIPTION OF FEMALE.—Head about 18 percent of total body length, greatest width about 67 percent of length, rostrum exceeding apex of article 2 on antenna 1, unconstricted, weakly tapering, apically rounded. Eyes small-medium in size, clear in preservative. Article 1 on peduncle of antenna 1 about 1.6 times as long as wide, almost twice as wide as article 2, apicoventral margin with several setules, strongly produced dorsal apex with 5 setules; article 2 about half as long as article 1, apicoventral surface with 4 setae; article 3 attached weakly to lateral face of article 2 with override of article 2 medially; accessory flagellum much shorter than primary flagellum, 3-articulate; primary flagellum 5-articulate, aesthetascs present. Spine formula on article 4 of antenna 2 = 1–2–4–2, proximal groups with accessory setule, distal and distoventral margins with 4 spines widely spread, dorsal margin with group composed of setule, spine and long seta, ventral margin with 4 subbasal penicillate setules, 2 faciolateral setules, and 3 groups of 2–3 setae each; article 5 about 0.6 times as long as article 4, facial spine formula = 2–2, with one proximal accessory setule, dorsal margin smooth, ventral margin with 2 sets of 1–2 setae each, distoventral corner with 2 long spine-setae and setule; flagellum almost as long as article 4 of peduncle, 5-articulate. Palpar hump of mandible medium; right incisor weakly tridentate, weakly webbed between two proximal teeth, left basically bidentate; right lacinia mobilis flabellate, distal branch poorly defined, margin toothed; left lacinia mobilis flabellate, 5-toothed; right rakers 2 and some rudimentaries, left 3 and some rudimentaries; molar triturative, on medium length pedicle; palp article 2 with pair of small basal setae and 5 long inner marginal setae in tandem, article 3 about as long as article 2, oblique apex with 10 setae. Lower lip with no apparent cones on outer lobe but with 4–5 emergent salivary ducts, mandibular lobes of medium length, weakly attenuate and apically rounded, inner lobes abutted and appearing separate for much of their length, perhaps raphe extremely distinct. Inner plate of maxilla 1 large, elliptical, naked; outer plate with 7 spines; palp failing to reach apex of outer plate, bearing 2 apical, one apicolateral, one apicomedial setae almost strap-shaped. Inner plate of maxilla 2 broader than but as long as outer plate, medial margin of inner plate with 4 small setae, none apical, outer plate with 6 apical and 4 medial setae. Inner plate of maxilliped with one mediofacial seta, 0–1 medial seta, 2–3 apical spines and one apical setule; outer plate with 3 spines; article 2 of palp weakly setose medially, article 3 with 3 facial setae, article 4 short, apical spine long relative to article 4, bearing 2 accessory setules. Coxa 1 distally expanded, rounded but subacuminate anteroventrally, long setal formula of coxae 1–4 = 9–8–8–6, posteriormost seta of coxae 1–3 short; anterior and posterior margins of coxa 4 divergent, posterior margin almost straight, posterodorsal corner subsharp, posterodorsal excavation of medium size and L-shaped, ratio of width to length = 1:1. Gnathopod 2 much stouter than gnathopod 1, long posterior setae on article 2 of gnathopods 1–2 = 3 and 3, on both gnathopods article 5 small and cryptic, article 6 attached to produced apex of article 5 but held tightly flexed, article 6 stout, ovatorectangular, palm oblique, defening hump large on gnathopod 2, apices of dactyls with flake, length ratios of articles 5–6 on gnathopods 1–2 = 28:72 and 32:110, width ratios = 23:44 and 25:65. Pereopods 1–2 similar to each other, long posterior setae on article 2 = 3 and 5, article 4 with 5 facial setae, article 5 with 4 and 2 facial setae, posterior margins of articles 4–5 moderately setose, article 5 with long distal spine reaching almost fully along article 6, with very small contiguous spine at base, article 6 with rows of 3 and 3 or 3 and 2 (pereopod 2) spines, two of these spines on midposterior margin of article 6, also bearing one middistal spinule, spines blunt, dactyl lacking apical flake, bearing thin inner setule appressed in marginal groove guarded by protrusion, apical nail almost fully fused to dactyl. Coxae 5–7 posteroventral setule formula = 1–1–3. Width ratios of articles 2, 4, 5, 6 of pereopod 3 = 52:30:25:14, of pereopod 4 = 68:29:21:12, of pereopod 5 = 86: 26:17:9, length ratios of articles 2, 4, 5, 6 of pereopod 3 = 61:27:27:26, of pereopod 4 = 89:52:46:45, of pereopod 5 = 102:24:28:23; article 2 of pereopod 5 slightly exceeding middle of article 4; apex of article 6 finely combed. Epimera 1–2 with facial ridge, epimeron 1 with rounded-quadrate posteroventral corner, epimeron 2 broadly rounded posteroventrally, posterior margins convex, epimeron 1 with one ventral seta, epimeron 2 with crescentic row of 8 facial setae and one supernumerary facial seta, epimeron 3 with rounded posteroventral corner, posterior margin convex, bearing setal notches and 6 posterior setae, posteroventral margin with 2 setae in notches, epimera 1–2 with small dorsoposterior setule. Urosomite 1 bearing 2 setules on lateral face at base of uropod 1, urosomite 2 with one such seta, one dorsolateral seta on each side of urosomite 1, urosomite 3 with long seta at ventral base of uropod 3. Peduncle of uropod 1 lacking basofacial setae (see urosomite 1), apicolateral corner of peduncle with one spine, medial margin with 3 spines; rami of uropods 1–2 with apical nail almost fully amalgamated with ramus, outer rami of uropods 1–2 and inner ramus of uropod 1 with one dorsal spine each, inner ramus of uropod 1 with one mediobasal setule, outer ramus of uropod 1 as long as or longer than inner ramus, almost straight, rami and peduncles of uropods 1–2 lacking combs. Uropod 3 long, rami feminine, peduncle with 3 ventrolateral short spines, medially with setule, dorsolaterally with spinule, inner ramus extending to M. 43 on article 1 of outer ramus, apex with one seta, article 2 of outer ramus short, 0.17, bearing 2 long apical setae, outer margin of article 1 with 4 acclivities, setal formula = 1–1–2–2–2, one seta of some pairs short, medial apex with one long seta. Telson ordinary, length-width ratio = 1:1, apices scarcely tapering, broadly rounded, each with weak lateral acclivity bearing one long seta, one short lateral seta, these separated by shorter plusetule, dorsal pairs of plusetules diverse. Cuticle covered with knobs and villi, these knobs on posterior coxae and article 2 of pereopods 3–5 organized into polygons.

ILLUSTRATIONS.—Upper lip drawn from slightly oblique dorsal view; inner lobes of lower lip seen imperfectly at base; dactyl of pereopod 4 on both sides missing.

HOLOTYPE.—AM, female, “a,” 7.21 mm. Unique. [Extremely large, possibly senile but brood plates bearing setae, thus indicating presenility.]

TYPE-LOCALITY.—AM P.18248, 18 Jun 1962, off Syndey, New South Wales, Australia, 33°58.4'S, 151°29'E, 150 m.

RELATIONSHIP.—This species bears similarities to Phoxocephalus regium K. H. Barnard, 1930 (see Hurley, 1954), from New Zealand. In P. regium only 3 setae occur on epimeron 3 and the horizontal row of setae on epimeron 2 is confined to the anterior part of the plate; P. regium lacks a dorsal spine on the outer ramus of uropod 1 and no spines on the rami of uropod 2. The inner ramus of uropod 3 is elongate. Article 4 of pereopod 5 is thin in P. regium, articles 4–5 of pereopods 3–4 are even thinner than those of P. rupullus, gnathopod 1 appears much larger than in P. rupullus and article 5 longer on P. regium than in P. rupullus. Coxa 4 has a sharper posterior lobe in P. rupullus, longer apical nail on the dactyl of the maxilliped, and lacks a basofacial seta on article 3 of the mandibular palp.

MATERIAL.—AM, one sample (1).

DISTRIBUTION.—New South Wales, off Sydney, 150 m.