Paraleptochelia Guţu, 2016

Tzeng, You-Wei & Hsueh, Pan-Wen, 2021, Additions of new species to the Paratanaoidea (Crustacea, Tanaidacea) of Taiwan, Zootaxa 4949 (1), pp. 131-148 : 132-133

Paraleptochelia Guţu, 2016

Type species. Paraleptochelia magnispina Guţu, 2016 (designation by original description)

Diagnosis (after Guţu 2016, new features highlighted in boldface). Female. Body slender, 7.5 to eight times longer than wide at least. Carapace much longer than wide (about 1.7 times longer than wide); dorsal demarcation of the second thoracomere present but weak. Eye lobes with pigmented eyes. Pereon with pereonites 2, 3 and 6 only slightly wider than long; pereonites 4 and 5 longer than wide. Pleon shorter than carapace. Antennule four-articled. Antenna article-2 with dorso- and ventrodistal spine; article-3 with dorsodistal spine. Mandibles and maxillulae as in other leptocheliids. Maxilliped basis with two long setae; endites with outer seta and two flat (linguiform) or blunt spines on distal margin. Cheliped basis with outer simple seta; merus with two ventral setae; carpus with two spinules on proximodorsal half; fixed finger with five setae. Pereopods 1–3 coxa with seta; basis with very short proximodorsal seta. Pereopod-1 dactylus shorter than unguis. Pereopods 1–5 ischium with single ventral seta, pereopod-6 ischium with one or two ventral setae. Pereopods 2 and 3 merus with only ventrodistal seta; carpus with two setae (dorso- and ventrodistally); pereopod-2 propodus with one ventro-subdistal and two long dorso-subdistal setae; pereopod-3 propodus with one ventro-subdistal and one long distal seta. Pereopods 4–6 basis swollen (about two times longer than wide); merus with or without one ventral distal seta and with two ventrodistal small spines. Pleopods well developed, similar to those of other leptocheliids. Uropod peduncle short and thick, naked; exopod one- or two-articled; endopod four- or five-articled.

Male. Body slender, at least six times longer than wide. Carapace 1.5– 1.6 times longer than wide. Eyes pigmented. Pereonite-4 longest (approximately as long as first two pereonites together), only slightly wider than long. Antennule slightly longer than half length of body; peduncle very long; flagellum multi-articled but short (about as long as peduncle article-2 and much shorter than peduncle article-1). Antenna six-articled, much shorter than half length of peduncle article-1 of antennule; second article with dorso- and with or without ventrodistal spines; third article with dorsodistal long spine. Mouthparts reduced; only rudimentary maxillipeds are present. Epignath as in females. Cheliped slender, longer than body; carpus 6 –15 times longer than wide, shorter than antennule peduncle; propodus as long as carpus, with the palm much longer than fixed finger; fixed finger thicker in the first two-thirds, with small apophysis on disto-inner margin and five setae on distal thirds; dactylus slightly longer than fixed finger, with six spinules or some short setae on inner margin. Setation of pereopods 1–3 coxa, basis, and ischium as in females. Pereopod-1 merus naked or one small ventrodistal seta present; propodus with ventro-subdistal stout spine and two or three dorso-subdistal short setae; dactylus longer than unguis. Pereopods 2 and 3 merus and carpus with ventrodistal spines; propodus dorsodistal setation as in female, but ventro-subdistally with robust spine. Each of pereopods 4–6 much longer than pereopods 2 or 3 and only slightly shorter than pereopod-1, with stronger spines on merus, carpus and propodus than those of female. Pleopods as in female, but with narrower rami and longer plumose setae. Uropods as in female, but peduncle with 1–2 long inner-distal setae and a pair of long ventrodistal setae; the first two endopod articles with two or three pear-shaped setae on disto-inner corners.

Remarks. Based on the descriptions of the present species, P. gadgeti ( Edgar, 2012) and P. magnispina Guţu, 2016 ( Edgar 2012: fig 8; Guţu 2016: figs 51A, C, H, 52D, E, F, 53A, C, D, E, G), the generic diagnosis is emended slightly to include wider ranges of body length to width ratio in both sexes, the presence of a wider range of ventral setae on the ischium of the female pereopod-6, a wider range of inner-distal setae and the presence of two long ventrodistal setae on the male uropod base article, and a wider range of numbers of uropod exopod and endopod articles in both sexes.