Pseudoprotella Montagu, 1804

Guerra-García, José M., 2004, Deep-sea Caprellidea (Crustacea, Amphipoda) from Azores with the description of three new species, Zoosystema 26 (2), pp. 235-262 : 257

Genus Pseudoprotella Montagu, 1804

Pseudoprotella phasma ( Montagu, 1804) ( Figs 16-18 )

Cancer phasma Montagu, 1804: 66 , pl. 6, fig. 3.

Caprella quadrispinis Grube, 1864: 63 .

Protella phasma Mayer, 1882: 29 , pl. 1, fig. 2, pl. 4, figs 1-8, 34-37, pl. 5, figs 19-21.

Pseudoprotella phasma – Chevreux & Fage 1925: 437- 439, fig. 423. — Cavedini 1981: 527. — Krapp- Schickel 1993: 811-813, figs 552, 553. — Guerra-García & Takeuchi 2002: 705, 706.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Stn 92, 1 (MNHN-Am 2959).

DISTRIBUTION. — Type locality: south coast of Devonshire , England ( McCain & Steinberg 1970). Other localities: North Sea from Norway to British Isles ; Eastern Atlantic from British Isles to Cape Verde, including Azores and Canary Islands ; Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black and Red seas ( McCain & Steinberg 1970; Krapp-Schickel 1993).

REMARKS

Pseudoprotella phasma is a common species in Mediterranean waters, widely distributed along the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The studied collection contained only one female specimen which is figured in detail in this paper. Pseudoprotella phasma was redescribed by Cavedini (1981) and Krapp-Schickel (1993) based on Mediterranean specimens. The examined female is in agreement with these descriptions except for the number of spiniform setae on the outer lobe of the maxilla 1 (six in the present specimen and five in the previous records).

The present study enlarges the depth range known for P. phasma . The species had been recorded previously from Azores at 130 m deep and McCain (1966) reported a maximum depth of 753 m for the species. The female studied here have been collected at 2450 m, the greatest depth recorded so far for this species.

Three species of Pseudoprotella have been described so far: P. phasma ( Montagu, 1804) , P. inermis Chevreux, 1927 , redescribed by Guerra-García & Takeuchi (2000) and P. bogisa (Mayer, 1903) , which have been recently transferred from the genus Noculacia to Pseudoprotella (Guerra-García 2002) . The three species are morphologically compared in Guerra-García (2002).

Figures

FIG. 16. — Pseudoprotella phasma (Montagu, 1804), female lateral view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIG. 17. — Pseudoprotella phasma (Montagu, 1804), female mouthparts; A, lower lip; B, upper lip; C, left mandible; D, right mandible; E, maxilliped; F, maxilla 1; G, maxilla 2. Scale bars: 0.05 mm.

FIG. 18. — Pseudoprotella phasma (Montagu, 1804), female; A, antenna 1; B, antenna 2; C, gnathopod 1; D, gnathopod 2; E, pereopod 3; F, pereopod 4; G, abdomen. Scale bars: A-D, 0.3 mm; E-G, 0.05 mm.