Neoleptastacus clasingi ( Mielke, 1985 ), 2008

Sak, Serdar, Karaytuğ, Süphan & Huys, Rony, 2024, Review of Neoleptastacus Nicholls, 1945 (Harpacticoida, Arenopontiidae), including an updated key to species and proposal of Phreatipontia gen. nov., Zootaxa 5525 (1), pp. 1-66 : 26-27

Neoleptastacus clasingi ( Mielke, 1985)

Arenopontia clasingi Mielke, 1985

Arenopontia (Arenopontia) clasingi Mielke, 1985 : Bodin (1988: 162)

Neoleptastacus clasingi ( Mielke, 1985) Sak et al. (2008: 412)

Original description. Mielke (1985): 222–227; Abb. 3B, 26–28.

Additional description. Mielke (1987): 329 [no illustrations].

Type locality. Chile, Los Ríos Region, Valdivia Province, Mehuín (about 60 km north of Valdivia ); Playa Universitaria , in front of marine laboratory of UACH ( University of Valdivia ); dark substratum, grain size 125–250 μm.

Body length. 390–420 μm (♀), 390–410 μm (♂) [ Mielke 1985]; 400–440 μm (♀), 410 (♂) (Coquimbo population) and 340–390 μm (♀), 350–400 μm (♂) (Antofagasta population) [ Mielke 1987].

Remarks. Neoleptastacus clasingi is unique within the spinicaudatus -group because of the conspicuous integumental pattern of the abdominal somites, which deceptively appears as surface sculpturing but, in reality, reflects internal longitudinal reinforcements of the body wall. This character, which enhances flexibility of the urosome, evolved convergently in the two known species of the ornamentus -subgroup ( N. ornamentus , N. reductaspina ). The middle exopodal segment of P4 appears expanded along its transversal axis and the inner and distal elements of the distal segment are swollen proximally. Mielke (1985) recorded a minute middorsal extension (“Nippel”) on the anal operculum.

Mielke (1987) added Chilean records from Las Lozas (south of Coquimbo) and La Rinconada (north of Antofagasta). The species appears therefore to be distributed along the Chilean coast from at least Antofagasta (Antofagasta Region) in the north to Valdivia (Los Ríos Region) in the south ( Mielke 1985, 1987). It occurs sympatrically with N. spicatus in sandy beaches around Antofagasta and Coquimbo.