Apseudes grossimanus Norman & Stebbing, 1886

Bochert, Ralf, 2012, Apseudomorph Tanaidacea from the continental shelf of Angola and Namibia with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 3583, pp. 31-50 : 33

Apseudes grossimanus Norman & Stebbing, 1886

Apseudes grossimanus Norman & Stebbing, 1886: 93 –95, pl. 19. Lang, 1955: 74, figs. 12–15; 1968: 28–33, figs. 1–3. Blazewicz-Paszkowycz et al., 2011: 9 –10, fig. 5.

Material examined: 1 male, 11.0 mm (St. 37: grab sampling; 15° 00.502Ś 12°04.714´E)

Remarks. The species is well characterized by its tridentate rostrum and large size. A. grossimanus was found by Lang (1968) off Angola (12° S) and Namibia (20° S) at 537–975 m water depth and further north at the shelf off Nigeria (50–100 m) ( Lang, 1955). It is otherwise widespread in the north-east Atlantic and lives at similar (500–960 m) depth ranges ( Blazewicz-Paszkowycz et al., 2011). The last-mentioned authors doubt that the records of A. grossimanus from North Atlantic, South Atlantic and the Mediterranean belong to the same species because it lacks a planktonic larval stage. Against this background, morphological features of the present specimen were carefully checked, but no differences to former descriptions were found.

Distribution. West Africa: from 6° N–20° S; 50–975 m water depth; North-east Atlantic.