Akanthophoreus gracilis (Krøyer, 1842)

Bamber, Roger N., 2011, The marine fauna and flora of the Isles of Scilly. Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracarida), Journal of Natural History 45 (29 - 30), pp. 1801-1815 : 1808-1810

Akanthophoreus gracilis (Krøyer, 1842)

Leptognathia gracilis Holdich and Jones, 1983 , 70–71; fig. 24.

Material

One ♀, 1 neuter, 49 ◦ 55.43 ′ N, 06 ◦ 16.41 ′ W, muddy sand with some shell breccia, 36 m depth, van Veen grab, 27 June 2009; 2♀♀, 49 ◦ 55.42 ′ N, 06 ◦ 16.41 ′ W, muddy sand with some shell breccia, 37 m depth, van Veen grab, 27 June 2009.

Remarks

This species is generally regarded as a northern species, having been found in the North Sea , the Irish Sea , the west coasts of Scotland and Ireland as well as further north ( Greenland; records from Alaska are in need of re-examination). Indeed, Holdich and Jones (1983) stated that its southern limit “is approximately 52 ◦ N ”. These two records, from the muddy-sand with gravel or shell substratum typical for the species, extend its known distribution much further south .

Not recorded previously from the Isles of Scilly. It is unlikely that the taxa recorded as “ Leptognathia sp. ” by Rostron (1983, 1988) were of this species, as her sampling was in cleaner sand; those records are presumed to have been Tanaissus danica (see below).