Lebbeus bidentatus, Zarenkov, 1976

Martin, Joel W. & Haney, Todd A., 2005, Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (4), pp. 445-522 : 470

LEBBEUS BIDENTATUS ZARENKOV, 1976

Type locality: R / V Academik Kurchatov, sta. 276, off Chile, 1680 m ( Fransen, 1997, after Zarenkov, 1976).

Known range: Known only from the type locality (but see below). The species has not been collected or reported since its original description ( Fransen, 1997). The only possible vent occurrence consists of the specimens noted below.

Material: The single holotype was the only specimen known to Fransen (1997) at the time of his redescription of the species. Fransen referred to the male holotype as having a carapace length of 15.3 mm and being registered as Ma 4046 (Zoological Museum of the Moscow Lomonossov State University). Unpublished collections of shrimp of the genus Lebbeus that ‘key’ to this species (based mostly on the length of the rostrum and number of epipods) were collected from traps near a vent field in the southern portion of the EPR ( T. Shank & J. Martin, unpubl. data). We are aware of 4 specimens possibly belonging to this species (see below) that were collected in a baited trap from a vent field on the southern EPR. The specimens were collected by Tim Shank and donated to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County ( LACM CR 1999 - 050.1 -3; LACM CR 1999 - 051.1 ) .

Remarks: Zarenkov’s (1976) description of Lebbeus bidentatus is woefully inadequate by today’s standards, with incomplete illustrations, and apparently some of the illustrations do not match the holotype ( Fransen, 1997). Fransen’s (1997) redescription is far more detailed, and will eventually allow us to identify the EPR shrimp. Zarenkov (1976) gave no information on the substrate. Tentative identification (because of the uncertainties noted above concerning Zarenkov’s descriptions and specimens) was provided for us by M. K. Wicksten, Texas A&M University.