Pleurocope Walker, 1901

Shimomura, Michitaka & Naruse, Tohru, 2015, Two new species of Asellota (Crustacea, Isopoda) from coral reefs on Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan, ZooKeys 520, pp. 27-40 : 29

Taxon classification Animalia Isopoda Pleurocopidae

Pleurocope Walker, 1901

Pleurocope Walker, 1901: 297; Kensley and Schotte 2002: 1435.

Type species.

Pleurocope dasyura Walker, 1901 (by original designation and monotypy).

Species included.

Pleurocope dasyura Walker, 1901, Mediterranean; Pleurocope floridensis Hooker, 1985, Gulf of Mexico; Pleurocope wilsoni Kensley & Schotte, 2002, Thailand and Seychelles; Pleurocope iriomotensis sp. n., Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Islands (present study).

Diagnosis

(modified from Kensley and Schotte 2002). Antennular flagellum composed of 4 articles. Antennal flagellum composed of 6-7 articles. Mandible without palp. Maxillula medial lobe rudimentary, without setae; lateral lobe with 7-9 setae apically. Maxilla lateral 2 lobes each with 2 setae apically. Some pereonites with spine-like process laterally, often bearing 1-2 stout setae. Pereopod 1 subchelate. Pereopods 2-7 with single claw. Coxal plates of pereopods 5-7 visible in dorsal view. Some coxal plates with spine-like process laterally, with 1-3 stout setae. Uropods composed of protopod, endopod and exopod, inserted dorsolaterally on proximal pleon. Pleotelson tapering posteriorly to acute apex. Male pleopod 1 tapering posteriorly, with some short setae on apex. Male pleopod 2: protopod narrow, lanceolate, with single long seta on apex; second article reaching or surpassing apex of protopod.

Remarks.

Walker (1901) established the genus for his new species Pleurocope dasyura from a depth of 18 m at the Mediterranean. A second species, Pleurocope floridensis , was described by Hooker (1985) from a depth of 30 m at the Florida Middlegrounds in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Kensley and Schotte (2002) redefined the genus with the description of the new species of Pleurocope wilsoni from a depth of 77 m off Phuket Island, Thailand, and a depth of 6-16 m at Picard Island, Aldabra Atoll.

The main changes in this new diagnosis are to accommodate the number of seta on maxillae.