Notoprotomima Takeuchi & Lowry, gen. nov.

Genus Notoprotomima gen. nov. Diagnosis

Head fused with pereonite 1. Antenna 1 well developed; flagellum with more than two articles; accessory flagellum absent. Antenna 2 well developed; flagellum with two articles. Mandible well developed; molar absent; palp 3-articulate; article 3 with two or three large distal marginal setae. Maxilliped well developed; inner plate (basal endite) larger than outer plate (ischial endite); outer plate (ischial endite) well developed; palp article 3 without distal projection; palp article 4 well developed. Pereonite 4 clavate appendage absent. Pereonites 6 and 7 not fused. Pereopod 3 well developed, with seven articles. Pereopod 4 well developed, with seven articles. Pereopod 5 well developed, with seven articles, with well developed dactylus. Gills on pereonites 2 to 4. Pleopods absent. Uropods two pairs; uropod 1, uniramous; uropod 2, uniramous. Telson (dorsal lobe) present.

Feminine.

Notoprotomima smithi sp. nov.

“ Notoprotomima ” is derived from “ Noto- ” meaning south (from notos = southerly), and protomima.

Notoprotomima includes two species: Notoprotomima grandimana (Guerra-García, 2004a); Notoprotomima smithi sp. nov.

This new genus, Notoprotomima, is most closely related to Pseudoprotomima McCain, 1969 and Symmetrella Laubitz, 1995.

Three species have been reported so far (McCain 1969; McCain and Gray 1971; Guerra-García 2004a) from Pseudoprotomima; P. hurleyi McCain, 1969 from 788 to 1609 m depth near New Zealand, P. hedgpethi McCain and Gray, 1971 from 71 to 110 m depth in the South Indian Ocean and P. grandimana Guerra-García, 2004a from less than 18 m depth along the coast of Western Australia.

The present new genus, Notoprotomima, differs from Pseudoprotomima (see McCain and Gray 1971; Takeuchi 1993) in the following generic characters: (1) the flagellum of antenna 2 in Notoprotomima is restricted to two articles even in mature males, while that in Pseudoprotomima varies from two to four articles; and (2) in Notoprotomima the third article of the mandibular palp has two to three large distal setae, while in Pseudoprotomima the setal formula is 1 – x – 1.

The genus Symmetrella was established for Symmetrella arnaudi Laubitz, 1995 collected from bathyal depths, 2200 m, from the southern Indian Ocean (Laubitz 1995). The present new genus, Notoprotomima, differs from Symmetrella (see Laubitz 1995) in the following generic characters: (1) in Notoprotomima the third article of mandibular palp has two to three large distal setae, while in Symmetrella the setal formula is 1 – x – 1; (2) in Notoprotomima pereopod 4 is composed of seven articles, while Symmetrella lacks pereopod 4; and (3) in Notoprotomima the abdomen lacks pleopods, while in Symmetrella the abdomen possesses a pair of tiny pleopods.

Hence, we establish the new genus, Notoprotomima, based on the present species. The description and figures for P. grandimana Guerra-García, 2004a (Guerra-García 2004a) agree well with the present species in the above generic diagnosis of Notoprotomima and P. grandimana is here moved to Notoprotomima.