Andeepia, Coleman, Tapati Biswas Charles Oliver & Hendrycks, Ed A., 2009

Coleman, Tapati Biswas Charles Oliver & Hendrycks, Ed A., 2009, Andeepia ingridae a new genus and species of Pardaliscidae (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from the Antarctic deep-sea and short redescription of Nicippe unidentata K. H. Barnard, 1932, Zootaxa 1977, pp. 21-38 : 22-23

Andeepia gen. n.

Diagnosis. Mouthparts not cone-shaped, buccal mass shallow. Coxal plates short, shallow, weakly to not overlapping. Urosomite 1 tooth lacking; urosomite 2 with a conspicuous tooth projecting over posterior margin. Gnathopod 1 with short carpus and short ventral lobe, propodus massive with straight palm margin and strongly curved, long dactylus, inner margin of dactylus smooth, but inside the cuticle faint embedded teeth can just be discerned (only visible under high magnification).

Gnathopod 2 with carpus twice as long as that of gnathopod 1, propodus less robust, shorter and tapering distally, palm convex. Dactylus of gnathopod 2 shorter than that of gnathopod 1 and with distinct toothed dentition on the inner margin. Pereopods 3–7 weakly spinose/setose (especially on pereopods 5–7). Uropods 1–3 rami lanceolate, rami of each uropod subequal in length, spines short and sparse. Uropod 1 peduncle lacking distolateral tooth, but with short tooth distomedially. Uropod 2 peduncle with short distomedial tooth. Uropod 3, outer ramus 2-articulate, distal article minute. Telson cleft about 2/3 total length apices rounded, not notched.

Type species: Andeepia ingridae sp. n. by monotypy.

Etymology: The genus name is derived from the Andeep Expedition with the research vessel Polarstern during which the material was collected.

Remarks. The new genus appears to be most similar to Nicippe , and the related genera Spelaeonicippe Stock & Vermeulen, 1982 and Antronicippe Stock & Iliffe, 1990 but due to some remarkable differences (see table 1), it required a new genus to accommodate it.

From Nicippe and all other pardaliscids known, Andeepia differs most obviously in the much more robust and different form of the gnathopod propodi, especially obvious in gnathopod 1. In comparison to Nicippe , the enlarged propodus, short carpus and straight palmar margin of gnathopod 1 are strikingly different. Numerous other characters of difference from Nicippe are shown in table 1.

Andeepia differs from Spelaeonicippe and Antronicippe in many characters. Spelaeonicippe provo Stock & Vermeulen, 1982 has an elongate antenna 2 (vs shorter in the new taxon); pereopods 6–7 basis with posteroventral lobe (vs non-lobate, straight); the outer ramus of uropods 1–2 is much shorter than the inner (vs subequal) and the telson has strong marginal spines (vs lacking spines).

Antronicippe serrata Stock & Iliffe, 1990 has very slender gnathopods (vs robust) and their dactyli have fine serrated teeth on the inner margin; pereopod 7 basis is strongly expanded posteroventrally and lobate (vs rectangular and non-lobate); the outer ramus of uropods 1–2 is much shorter than the inner (vs subequal) and the telson is very shallowly (10%) notched (vs cleft 68%).

The genera Spelaeonicippe and Antronicippe both occur in anchialine caves. Spelaeonicippe contains two species, one found in Lanzarote (Canary Islands), the other in the Turks and Caicos Island (West Indies). Antronicippe was collected in a cave on Santa Cruz Island (Galapagos Islands). Thus, both genera occur in totally different regions and habitats than Andeepia , a Southern Ocean cold-water and deep-sea species.