Antennuloniscus lincolni, George, 2004

George, Robert Y., 2004, Deep-sea asellote isopods (Crustacea, Eumalacostraca) of the north-west Atlantic: the family Haploniscidae, Journal of Natural History 38 (3), pp. 337-373 : 368

Antennuloniscus lincolni n. sp.

(figure 16)

Diagnosis. Antennuloniscus with cephalon as long as the anterior two pereonites together, and with undulating frontal margin, lacking median projection. Pleotelson anteriorly much broader, narrowing posteriorly, with short triangular posterolateral projections. Antenna 1 with a foliaceous basal article, and extremely short fourth article. Uropod uniramous, tip of ramus reaching beyond the rounded pleotelson apex and reaching to the tip of the posterolateral projection.

Material examined. Holotype: female with well-developed brood plates, length 2.5 mm, width 1.0 mm. USNM Cat. No. 138684.

Type locality. R / V Eastward Sta. 6218, site Beta over the Carolina lower slope .

Etymology. This new species is named in honour of isopodologist Dr Roger Lincoln of the Natural History Museum, London, UK.

Description. Body somewhat quadrate in shape, with cephalon twice as long as pereonites 1 and 2 combined, frontal margin of the cephalon undulating, lacking a median projection. Pereonites 1–3 subequal. Pereonite 4 more than twice as long as pereonite 5. Lateral sutures well-developed between pereonites. Pereonite 7 fused with pleotelson. Lateral lobes of pereonites 1–5 with sparse short setae on the dorsal surface. Pleotelson broad anteriorly, narrower posteriorly, with short triangular posterolateral projections. Apex of pleotelson rounded.

Antenna 1 of six articles, basal article globular, article 2 narrow and long, article 3 shorter than article 2, article 4 extremely short; terminal two articles subequal. Antenna 2 with basal peduncle article less than half length of the second article, article 3 shorter than second and article 4 elongated, with distal spine short, and the whip-like flagellum of eight articles. Uropod uniramous, tip of ramus extending beyond the rounded apex of the pleotelson, and to the tip of the posterolateral projections.

Remarks. Antennuloniscus lincolni n. sp. exhibits some superficial resemblance to the other new species A. menziesi , discovered from the same site Beta over the Carolina lower slope. These two species lack any median projection on the frontal margin of the cephalon, and in both pereonite 7 is fused mid-dorsally with the pleotelson. However, short triangular posterolateral projections in A. lincolni are distinctly different from the long posterolateral projections of the pleotelson in A. menziesi . Furthermore, article 4 of antenna 1 is very short in A. lincolni but long in A. menziesi . The distal spine on article 3 of antenna 2 is produced in A. menziesi but rather short in A. lincolni .