Macrochiridothea uncinata Hurley & Murray, 1968

Poore, Gary C. B., 2009, A new species of Chaetiliidae (Crustacea: Isopoda: Valvifera) from the Río de la Plata estuary, Argentina-Uruguay, and reconsideration of Macrochiridothea and Chiriscus, Zootaxa 2119, pp. 51-65 : 63-64

Macrochiridothea uncinata Hurley & Murray, 1968

Macrochiridothea uncinata Hurley & Murray, 1968: 244 –248, figs 1–4. — Moreira, 1973: figs 11–15. — Carvacho, 1997: 52 (list).

Material. Holotype: Muriwai Beach, New Zealand (36°49'S, 174°27'E), lower intertidal, NIWA (male, 4 mm).

Paratypes: collected with holotype, NIWA (4 females, 3.0– 3.8 mm).

Diagnosis. Total body length of male 4 mm; female 5.5 mm. Dorsal surface of head, pereon and pleotelson smooth. Lateral lobes on head acute. Coxa 6 just overlapping pleonite 2. Antenna 1 peduncle, article 2 with anterodistal prolongation. Antenna 2 peduncle, article 4, as long as greatest width; article 5, 2.5 times as long as greatest width. Pereopods 2 and 3 dactyli subchelate, half as long as propodus. Pereopod 5 ischium with a prominent hook on upper margin. Pleopod 2, appendix masculina strongly curved, laterally with minute setae.

Distribution. North Island, New Zealand, 35°S–41°S.

Remarks. The penes, examined for us by Shane Ahyong, NIWA, are a pair of simple short papillae with a distal seta. Hurley & Murray (1968) noted sexual differences only in the shape of the hook on pereopod 5, a feature unique to this species. The species is the only one outside South America.