Hirondellea namarensis (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea: Hirondelleidae), a new deep-water scavenger species from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Abstract

A new species of the deep-sea scavenging genus Hirondellea (Crustacea: Amphipoda) is described from bathyal depths in the Azores region and on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The new species belongs to a group of Hirondellea species which possess an incised inner ramus of uropod 2 and an anteriorly directed spine on epimeron 1. It can be distinguished from other members of this group by a combination of characters: the gnathopod 1 and 2 palm shape; the broadly rounded epimeron 3; the longer telson and broadly rounded head lobe; and the broadly rounded epistome. The species most closely resembles H. wolfendeni, from which it can be distinguished by the shape of the propod of gnathopod 2 and the length of the pereopod 7 propodus. An updated key to the genus Hirondellea is provided.

Keywords:

• Crustacea
• Amphipoda
• Lysianassoidea
• Hirondelleidae
• North Atlantic Ocean
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge
• Hirondellea

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Acknowledgements

We thank the crew and scientists on board RRV James Cook during the ECOMAR cruises 2007–2010 for collecting the samples. In particular we are very grateful to Ben Boorman, Alan Hughes and Grant Duffy for operating the baited traps and dealing with the samples at sea, and to Morena Aloisi for sorting and counting of the Sedlo Seamount material. We are also grateful to Andy Mackie, Theresa Darbyshire and Graham Oliver of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff for trying to locate the type material of Hirondellea wolfendeni and providing useful references and ideas. This work is supported by NERC Grant NE/C51297X/1 to Tammy Horton.

Notes

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark