Meningodora mollis Smith, 1882

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 46

Meningodora mollis Smith, 1882

( Fig. 10 Q)

Meningodora mollis Smith, 1882: 74 , pl. 11, figs. 8, 8a, 9, pl. 12, figs. 5, 5a, 6–9. — Crosnier & Forest 1973: 44, fig. 10c. — Krygier & Pearcy 1981: 83. — Chace 1986: 50, figs. 26a–k. — Hendrickx & Estrada-Navarrete 1989: 115; 1996: 122, fig. 75. — Wicksten 2002: 136.

Notostomus fragilis Faxon, 1893: 207 ; 1895: 170, pl. 44, figs. 2a, b.

Notostomus mollis . — Chace 1940: 164, text fig. 38.

Diagnosis. Exoskeleton soft, fragile. Rostrum with 7–9 small dorsal, no ventral teeth, barely exceeding eye. Carapace somewhat inflated, with antennal tooth, branchiostegal tooth with short carina, lateral carina extending from orbit nearly to posterior margin. Eyes small, pigmented. Antennular peduncle short. Scaphocerite with blade exceeding lateral tooth. Third maxilliped shorter than first, second pereopods, setose. Pereopods 2, 3 chelate, pereopods 3–5 with simple dactyls, pereopod 5 especially setose. Abdominal somites 3–6 with dorsomedial carina, posterior dorsal tooth on somites 4–6. Telson without lateral spines. Total length 70 mm.

Color in life. Cephalothorax maroon tinged with black, abdomen, appendages red.

Habitat and depth. Pelagic, surface to 2000 m, usually 500–1150 m.

Range. Oregon to Galapagos Is., Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Type locality east of Cape Lookout, North Carolina.