Epimeria (Drakepimeria) pandora d'Acoz & Verheye 2017, subgen. et sp. nov.

Epimeria (Drakepimeria) pandora subgen. et sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: EABBCBFE-2ADE-49F4-B739-35CC145CE6A9

Figs 77–82

Epimeria similis – Lörz 2003: 85, 86, in part, fig. 3B (not fig. 3A). — d’Udekem d’Acoz & Verheye 2013: 58 (in part), 63, fig. 3.8.2G.

‘ Clade A similis / macrodonta complex - SI2ʹ – Verheye et al. 2016a, supplement: 2 (online).

non Epimeria similis Chevreux, 1912: 215.

Etymology

Πανδώρα is a well-known character of the Greek mythology. According to the myth, Pandora opened a jar, in modern accounts usually mistranslated as “Pandora’s box”, releasing all the evils of humanity, leaving only Hope inside once she had closed it again. She opened the jar out of simple curiosity and not as a malicious act. The name, which is a noun in apposition, should be considered as an allegory to the present study. The authors initially believed that the taxonomy of Antarctic Epimeria, was easy and fairly well-known, with perhaps a few attractive new species to describe; hence they had the curiosity to open glass jars filled with Epimeria specimens. In doing so, they opened the door to an inexhaustible flow of new species, often very difficult to separate from each other, and erased any hope of easy taxonomy for the genus.

Type material

Holotype

RV Polarstern cruises:

SOUTHERN OCEAN: ovigerous ♀, cruise PS81,ANT-XXIX/3, stn 217-6, Bransfield Strait, 62°53.45ʹ S, 58°13.06ʹ W to 62°53.42ʹ S, 58°13.41ʹ W, 461–483 m, rich sponge bottom, Agassiz trawl, 2 Mar. 2013, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and M. Verheye (RBINS, INV. 122931A) [extraction K31; Genbank nr, COI: KU870865, 28S: KU759644].

Paratypes

RV Polarstern cruises:

SOUTHERN OCEAN: 6 specs, cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 604-1, Elephant Island, 61°20.52ʹ S, 55°09.72ʹ W to 61°20.11ʹ S, 55°07.26ʹ W, 286–407 m, bottom trawl, 19 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122545); 1 spec., cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 604-1, Elephant Island, 61°20.52ʹ S, 55°09.72ʹ W to 61°20.11ʹ S, 55°07.26ʹ W, 286–407 m, bottom trawl, 19 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (MNHN-IU-2014-7330, removed from RBINS, INV. 122545); 1 spec., alcohol-fixed, cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 604-1, Elephant Island, 61°20.52ʹ S, 55°09.72ʹ W to 61°20.11ʹ S, 55°07.26ʹ W, 286–407 m, bottom trawl, 19 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122478); 2 specs, cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 604-1, Elephant Island, 61°20.52ʹ S, 55°09.72ʹ W to 61°20.11ʹ S, 55°07.26ʹ W, 286–407 m, bottom trawl, 19 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122547); 4 specs, cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 608-1, Elephant Island, 61°11.34ʹ S, 54°43.17ʹ W to 61°11.80ʹ S, 54°40.05ʹ W, 284–293 m, bottom trawl, 20 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122542); 1 spec., cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 611-1, Elephant Island, 60°58.90ʹ S, 55°11.31ʹ W to 60°58.52ʹ S, 55°07.82ʹ W, 215– 297 m, bottom trawl, 21 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122546); 6 small specs, cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 614-3/4/5, Elephant Island, 60°52.37ʹ S, 55°29.80ʹ W to 60°52.71ʹ S, 55°27.83ʹ W, 248–265 m, a lot of epifauna, Rauschert dredge and Agassiz trawl, 22 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122552); 1 spec., cruise PS69, ANT- XXIII/8, stn 627-1, Elephant Island, 60°59.00ʹ S, 55°42.36ʹ W to 60°57.62ʹ S, 55°40.19ʹ W, 90–102 m, bottom trawl, 24 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122559); 2 specs, cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 642-1, Elephant Island, 61°04.38ʹ S, 55°59.81ʹ W to 61°04.27ʹ S, 55°58.88ʹ W, 254 m, Agassiz trawl, 27 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122548); 2 specs, cruise PS69, ANT-XXIII/8, stn 654-6, Elephant Island, 61°22.80ʹ S, 56°03.84ʹ W to 61°23.35ʹ S, 56°04.89ʹ W, 341–342 m, Agassiz trawl, 29 Dec. 2006, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122543); 1 large spec., cruise PS69,ANT-XXIII/8, stn 726-4, southeast of Snow Hill Island, 64°37.83ʹ S, 56°42.10ʹ W to 64°38.03ʹ S, 56°42.57ʹ W, 292 m, Agassiz trawl, 23 Jan. 2007, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and H. Robert (RBINS, INV. 122551); 1 ovigerous ♀, posterior part missing, cruise PS81, ANT-XXIX/3, stn 217-6, Bransfield Strait, 62°53.45ʹ S, 58°13.06ʹ W to 62°53.42ʹ S, 58°13.41ʹ W, 461–483 m, rich sponge bottom, Agassiz trawl, 2 Mar. 2013, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and M. Verheye (RBINS, INV. 122931 B); 1 ovigerous ♀, cruise PS81, ANT-XXIX/3, stn 217-6, Bransfield Strait, 62°53.45ʹ S, 58°13.06ʹ W to 62°53.42ʹ S, 58°13.41ʹ W, 461–483 m, rich sponge bottom, Agassiz trawl, 2 Mar. 2013, coll. C. d’Udekem d’Acoz and M. Verheye (RBINS, INV. 122935) [extraction K32; Genbank nr, COI: KU870866, 28S: KU759645].

Description

ROSTRUM. Long, reaching about tip of article 1 of peduncle of antenna 1 (teeth excluded), moderately curved, sharp-tipped in lateral view.

EYE. Very large, broadly elliptic (nearly circular).

PEREION–PLEOSOME TOOTH PATTERN. Pereionite 1 without any trace of mid-dorsal tooth, with pair of very low non-carinate dorsolateral swellings; pereionite 2 nearly as broad as pereionite 1, with weak posterior mid-dorsal bump, and pair of indistinct dorsolateral swellings; pereionite 3 with small blunt-tipped middorsal tooth and pair of small dorsolateral blunt teeth; pereionite 4 with well-developed blunt-tipped mid-dorsal tooth and pair of small dorsolateral blunt teeth; pereionite 5 to pleonite 2 with large, acutetipped, broad, regularly curved mid-dorsal tooth (dorsal length of teeth slightly and gradually increasing posteriorly) and pair of dorsolateral non-carinate acute teeth (pleonites 1–2 without second pair of dorsolateral teeth); pleonite 3 with dorsal sharp carina with very weak median notch (lobe anterior to notch extremely low) and produced posteriorly into an a broad acute and sharp triangular tooth, and pair of dorsolateral non-carinate acute teeth.

COXAE 1–3. Strongly carinate and distally sharp.

COXA 4. Anterodorsal and anteroventral border nearly straight, joined by low and very blunt angular discontinuity, anterior angle not projecting forward; ventral tooth sharp and strong; lateral carina without tooth, without sharp angularity, carina very distant from margin of coxa at its deepest point.

COXA 5. With sharp and narrowly triangular, carinate, lateral tooth pointing obliquely backwards.

COXA 6. With mid-sized, sharp and narrowly triangular, carinate lateral tooth pointing obliquely backwards; posteroventral corner bluntly angular.

COXA 7. With ventral and posterior border straight, converging to form a sharp acute angle (i.e. a tooth).

EPIMERAL PLATES 1–3. Posteroventral angle produced into a very long sharp tooth.

UROSOME TOOTH PATTERN. Urosomite 1 with strong triangular process pointing upwards; urosomite 2 with pair of small sharp posterior dorsolateral teeth pointing upwards.

TELSON. Cleft on 0.25; tips of lobes blunt, broadly V-shaped.

PEDUNCLE OF ANTENNA 1. Article 1 with long lateral and medial teeth respectively nearly reaching beyond mid and nearly reaching mid of article 2 (teeth excluded) and long ventral tooth reaching tip of article 2 (teeth excluded); article 2 with very long lateral and medial teeth overreaching tip of article 3, with ventral tooth slightly overreaching tip of article 3 (tooth excluded); article 3 with long ventral tooth, about as long as article itself.

GNATHOPODS 1–2. Carpus and propodus of normal slenderness; propodus not narrowing distally, and palm distinct.

PEREIOPODS 5–7. Merus, carpus and propodus fairly slender; basis of pereiopods 5–6 of normal width, with posteroproximal process rounded and strongly protruding, with posterodistal tooth strong; basis of pereiopod 7 very broad with posterodistal tooth angulate, followed more proximally by small concavity, directed posteriorly.

Colour pattern

Body whitish with intense orange colour marks. Peduncle of antenna 1 orange-tinged. Rostrum, and posterior part of pereiopods vaguely orange-tinged; Eyes reddish.

Body length

Up to 45 mm.

Distribution

Elephant Island and tip of Antarctic Peninsula: Bransfield Strait and Snow Hill Island; 90– 483 m.

Remarks

Epimeria pandora sp. nov. is morphologically similar to the sympatric E. similis and E. colemani sp. nov. Epimeria pandora sp. nov. has a pair of small teeth pointing upwards on urosomite 2, which are absent in the two other species. It has no lateral tooth or angularity on the lateral carina of coxa 4, whilst E. similis has a well developed tooth and E. colemani sp. nov. a very obtuse tooth or angularity. Finally, the dorsolateral teeth of the pereion are conical in E. pandora sp. nov., whilst they are carinate in E. colemani sp. nov. The Peninsular E. pandora sp. nov. is replaced by the extremely similar E. havermansiana subgen. et sp. nov. in the eastern Weddell Sea, off Princess Ragnhild Coast, Prydz Bay and Adélie Coast. See also key to E. (Drakepimeria) subgen. et sp. nov. and account on E. havermansiana subgen. et sp. nov. for differences.