Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis G. Vinogradov, 2004

Kilgallen, Niamh M. & Lowry, James K., 2015, A review of the scopelocheirid amphipods (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Lysianassoidea), with the description of new taxa from Australian waters, Zoosystematics and Evolution 91 (1), pp. 1-43 : 21

Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis G. Vinogradov, 2004 Figure 38

Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis G. Vinogradov, 2004: 55, fig. 3.

Type material.

Holotype, male, 4.5 mm, SAM A40881. Paratype, juvenile, 2.5 mm, P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Type locality.

Indian Ocean, Madagascar, Mozambique Channel (22°13'S, 43°07'E), 258-300 m (2 meters above the bottom).

Depth range.

258-300 m ( Vinogradov 2004).

Distribution.

Mozambique Channel, Indian Ocean ( Vinogradov 2004).

Ecology.

Living over mud with sand.

Discussion.

Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis is morphologically close to Scopelocheiropsis armata , both of which have a known distribution that is so far confined to Madagascar. Vinogradov (2004) does not justify his generic placement of the species, but presumably it was due to the absence of a molar, which Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis , the type of the genus, is now known to have. Nonetheless, Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis exhibits characters which fit within the diagnosis of the genus.

Scopelocheiropsis sublittoralis can be distinguished from Scopelocheiropsis armata by the following characters: molar absent in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis , present in Scopelocheiropsis armata ; mandible palp broadened medially in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis , margins subparallel in Scopelocheiropsis armata ; pereopod 5 basis almost linear in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis , broadly expanded posteriorly in Scopelocheiropsis armata ; uropod 3 rami subequal in length in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis , inner ramus distinctly shorter than outer in Scopelocheiropsis armata ; telson length 1.5 × width in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis , 1.2 × width in Scopelocheiropsis armata .

Scopelocheiropsis sublittoralis can also easily be distinguished from Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis by the absence of a molar (present in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis ); the shape of gnathopod 1, which is much more elongate and slender in Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis ; and the shape of pereopod 7 basis, which has a long, thin posterodistal lobe in Scopelocheiropsis sublitoralis compared to the posteroventrally excavate corner of the pereopod 7 basis in Scopelocheiropsis abyssalis .