Protallocoxa Schultz 1978

Protallocoxa Schultz, 1978

Figs 2C,D, 3F

Protallocoxa Schultz, 1978: 246-250, figs 1A-K, 2A-I.

Protallocoxa.- Schultz, 1979b: 78-79, figs 3--4. Stenetrium.­ Wilson, 1980: 219-221.

1)rpe species. Protallocoxa weddellensis Schultz, 1978.

Species included. See Table 1.

Diagnosis. Head wider than long with broad lateral spines and antennal spines almost absent. Rostrum robust, elongate, roundly pointed, as long as cephalon with smooth lateral margins. Eyes small, anterolateral reniform. Maxilliped endopodite distal margin with 7- 8 fan setae; epipod with rounded distal tip. Antennal article 1 without lateral spines. Antennular flagellum with 10-20 articles. Pereon robust with smoothly rounded lateral margins; coxae not visible in dorsal view. Male pereopod I propodus as long as wide, with setose propodal palm lacking teeth; dactylus equal to length of propodal palm. Male pleopod 11 protopod with small distal extension; exopod and endopod subdistal on medial margin; appendix masculina elongate with blunt distal tip and small subapical row of short, proximally directed cuticular hairs. Female pleopod 11 apex acutely pointed. Pleotelson lateral margins smooth and posteriorly truncated, with weak posterolateral spines, telsonic region between uropods sharply truncated. Uropods s~ort, barely emerging from pleotelson margin in dorsal VIew.

Remarks. The use of plesiomorphic and/or variable characters while ignoring other diagnostic features has clouded the definition of this genus. Protallocoxa Schultz, 1978 originally was based on a freely-articulating, protruding coxa of the first pereopod. Schultz (1978) considered this character to be a primitive asellote feature and used it as a justification for a new superfamily, the Protallocoxoidea. Wilson (1980) later showed that this feature was a plesiomorphic condition in brooding females of many asellote species, including Stenetrium, and synonymised Schultz's taxon back into the Stenetriidae as S. weddellense. In our proposed classification, Protallocoxa regains its generic status within the family because the member species, P. weddellense and P. abyssale have several unique features among the Stenetriidae, particularly a lack of coxal projections visible in dorsal view and reduced marginal spines on the body.