Paratanais maleficus Larsen, 2001

BIRD, GRAHAM J. & BAMBER, ROGER N., 2013, New littoral, shelf, and bathyal Paratanaidae (Crustacea: Peracarida: Tanaidacea) from New Zealand, with descriptions of three new genera, Zootaxa 3676 (1), pp. 1-71 : 62-64

Paratanais maleficus Larsen, 2001

Figures 37–39

Paratanais maleficus: Larsen (2001) : 358–368, figs 3–10, 16; paratype P.54476 figs 5–6 non maleficus , = A. malignus .

Material examined. Paratype non-ovigerous ♀ on microslides, P.54476; 48 cited specimens, P.56433 - one nonov. ♀ (5.2 mm) dissected on microslides.

Diagnosis [partly after Larsen]. Female: with carapace entire; left mandible lacinia mobilis with serrate distal margin; antennule with cap-like terminal segment; antenna article-2 slightly swollen, with mid-inferior seta without apophysis, article-3 with convex superior margin, spine stout; maxilliped palp article-2 with serrulate spine with two long, aboral proximal setules; cheliped palm medial comb of up to seven spines, without sinuate spine near dactylus, dactylus inferior margin with two peg-like spines; pereopod-1 merus elongate; pereopods 2–3 basis with superior seta; pereopods 4–6 merus without seta, meral and carpal spines moderately serrate; uropod rami 2- segmented, longer than peduncle.

Remarks. This is a large species but the published description suffers from being composed of more than one species that includes A. malignus . The drawings of the illustrated paratype, P.54476, (Larsen: figs 5–6) are clearly at least partly of this species. Another large non-ovigerous female from the cited material, conforming to the holotype description and figures was dissected and shown to be clearly distinct from the original in several respects. In particular, the antenna is characteristically robust, with a mid-inferior seta on article-2, the cheliped palm lacks a sinuate spine (absent in Larsen: fig. 5j–k, yet is present on the same specimen examined here, Fig. 37A), the maxilliped palp article-2 has a serrulate spine with long proximal setules and both uropod rami are twosegmented – conforming to Larsen’s fig. 16g –h.

C maxillule endite, distal; D maxilliped; E maxilliped endite, distal, with tubercles from other endite; F maxilliped palp; G maxilliped palp article-2 inner serrulate spine; H maxilliped palp article-3 medial seta; J maxilliped palp article-4; K cheliped; L chela, distal. Scale bars: i: 0.5 mm for A–B, D; ii: 0.25 mm for C, E–F, H–J, 0.125 mm for G; iii 0.5mm for L, 0.25 mm for K.