Paranarthrura borealis Bird & Holdich, 1989

Bird, Graham J, 2010, Tanaidacea (Crustacea, Peracarida) of the North-east Atlantic: the Agathotanaidae of the AFEN, BIOFAR and BIOICE projects, with a description of a new species of Paragathotanais Lang, Zootaxa 2730, pp. 1-22 : 12

Paranarthrura borealis Bird & Holdich, 1989

Bird & Holdich (1989): 158–159; figs 1e, 10–11. Guerrero-Kommritz et al (2002): 10. Guerrero-Kommritz (2003): 3

Larsen (2006): 121, 140.

Identification reference. Bird & Holdich (1989).

Distribution records from the AFEN, BIOFAR & BIOICE surveys. Recorded from only three BIOICE stations in the Iceland Basin at depths 1070–1780 m.

Distribution elsewhere. From North Feni Ridge around to the Malin Slope, 903–1600 m ( Bird & Holdich 1988).

Remarks. This additional material of Paranarthrura borealis supplements the original description with respect to body length: neuters/non-ovigerous females were measured at 1.4–2.02 mm (max length 1.80 mm in Bird & Holdich 1989) with males from 1.45–1.56 mm (1.6 mm in original study).

Considered to be rare in the Rockall-Biscay area (Bird & Holdich 1989), this small species is restricted to the southern part of the BIOICE area. It has been recorded in the AFEN study area but only from the earlier SMBA surveys (Bird & Holdich 1989; Bird 2001). Benthic temperatures of 4o C were associated with sample localities for this species, and the recorded lower bathymetric limit has deepened slightly from 1600 m to 1780 m. It could be under-collected because of its small size and narrow body shape.