Bemlos acuticoxa, Myers, Alan A. & Nithyanandan, Manickam, 2016

Myers, Alan A. & Nithyanandan, Manickam, 2016, The Amphipoda of Sea City, Kuwait. — The Senticaudata (Crustacea), Zootaxa 4072 (4), pp. 401-429 : 405-408

Family Aoridae Stebbing, 1899

Bemlos acuticoxa sp. nov. ( Figs 4 , 5 )

Type material. Male holotype, 6.0 mm ( NHMUK 2015. 3072), llBS A1 25 May 2014, grab on bare sand benthos in phase A1, M. Nithyanandan. Paratypes, ( NHMUK 2015. 3073–3082), 4 males, 15 females, 2 juveniles, same date as holotype.

Other material. 10 males, 12 females ( NHMUK 2015. 3083–3092, A3S1, sandy benthos in phase A3 Sea City waterways, Ocklemann sledge, M. Nithyanandan, 20 October 2013; 1 male, 1 female ( NHMUK 2015. 3093 - 3094), North Gate, from seaweed and hydroids growing on concrete sides of north tidal gate phase A3 by diving, D.K. Raja, 19 April 2014; 1 male 3 females ( NHMUK 2015. 3095–-3098), collected from tunicate samples taken by diving in Marina in phase A2 1 April 2014, D.K. Raja.

Etymology. Named after the acute coxa 1 of the male gnathopod 1.

Description. Based on male holotype 6.0 mm.

Head. Head lateral lobes moderately produced, truncate. Eye round. Mandible palp article 3 longer than 2, posterior margin almost straight with comb-setae. Maxilla 1 inner plate with a single, long, pectinate seta. Labium with acute mandibular processes. Antenna 1 longer than 2; peduncular article 2 longer than 1; primary flagellum longer than peduncle with 23 articles; accessory flagellum long, with 6 articles. Antenna 2 peduncular articles 4 and 5 subequal in length.

Pereon. Segments 2–4 with strong ventral spines. Gnathopod 1 much larger than 2; coxa subrectangular, strongly produced anterodistally, subacute; basis about four times as long as broad; carpus reduced, cup-shaped; propodus elongate rectangular, posterodistal angle with strong acute tooth separated from short rounded palm by narrow sinus; dactylus greatly overlapping palm. Gnathopod 2 coxa subround; basis elongate, anterior margin weakly concave; carpus a little longer than propodus. Pereopods 3–7 of normal Bemlos form.

Pleon. Epimera 2–3 with small posterodistal spine. Uropod 1 peduncle subequal with rami, with long, curved, distoventral spine; inner ramus scarcely longer than outer. Uropod 2 peduncle shorter than rami, with strong distoventral spine about two-thirds length of peduncle; inner ramus longer than outer. Uropod 3 rami much longer than peduncle, outer ramus longer than inner. Telson with each dorsolateral crest bearing a pair of long setae.

Female (sexually dimorphic characters). Gnathopod 1 coxa rounded; carpus larger than that of male; propodus shorter than that of male, propodus posterodistal angle with blunt shelf with a strong robust seta at its base, palm, obsolescent.

Remarks. This species is very close to Bemlos aequimanus ( Schellenberg, 1938) , but it differs in several ways.

In the male, gnathopod 1 coxa is markedly more produced antero-distally, and the spine on the posterodistal corner of the propodus is longer, reaching the level of the short palm (poorly produced and shorter than the palm margin in B. aequimanus ). It also resembles B. teleporus ( K.H. Barnard, 1955) , but that species has a rounded male coxa 1 and a short posterodistal spine on the propodus of male gnathopod 1. It differs from both B. aequimanus and B. teleporus in the pereonal spines of the male. Bemlos acuticoxa sp. nov. has strong acute spines on segments 2–4 whereas B. aequimanus has short rounded spines on segments 1–3 and B. teleporus has an acute spine on segment 3 only ( Ledoyer, 1983, Madagascar). In addition, the anterior margin of the basis of the male gnathopod 2 is weakly concave in B. acuticoxa sp. nov., but more or less straight in both B. aequimanus and B. teleporus .

Distribution. Kuwait.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Bemlos acuticoxa sp. nov. male 6.0 mm, female 5.0 mm, Sea City, Kuwait.

FIGURE 5. Bemlos acuticoxa sp. nov. male 6.0 mm, Sea City, Kuwait.