Nymphon rottnesti Child 1975

Arango, Claudia P., 2009, New species and new records of sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) from deep waters in Western Australia, Zootaxa 1977, pp. 1-20 : 13

Nymphon rottnesti Child 1975

Nymphon rottnesti . — Child 1975:5 –7, fig. 3. — Bamber 2005: 328 –331, fig. 2.

Material examined: NMV J54993 , 1 young adult, no genital pores visible. November 2005, Mentelle, Western Australia, CSIRO station 015-120, collected with Sherman sled from 33.9800°S 114.7340°E to 33.9837°S 114.7350°E, soft bottom, 97 m.

Remarks: Nymphon rottnesti and N. flindersi Child, 1975 were synonymised in Bamber (2005) based on male characters described for the first time. This specimen shows a combination of characters from both types. The chelae are longer than the scape and the position of the oviger implantation is the same as in N. rottnesti , as are the lengths of the leg segments. The palp segments, propodus and claw proportions and a long abdomen agree with those of N. flindersi . However, the neck is shorter, the coxae 2 are not as long, there are fewer oviger spines, fewer chelae teeth, and the proboscis is strongly tapering at the tip giving a conical shape; these differences may justify proposing a new species, but only if more mature specimens were available. Nymphon rottnesti is known from Western Australia.