Kerguelenia kanowna Lowry & Stoddart 2010, sp. nov.

Kerguelenia kanowna sp. nov.

(Figs 16–18)

Type material. HOLOTYPE, female, 4.2 mm, MV J61505, south of Point Hicks, Victoria, Australia, 38°19.60'S 149°24.30'E, 930 m, rock, rubble, clay, sand, biogenic sediment, WHOI epibenthic sled, 23 July 1986, M.F. Gomon et al., RV Franklin, stn SLOPE 33. PARATYPES: 1 female and 2 males, MV J61506, south of Point Hicks, Victoria, Australia, 38°21.90'S 149°20.00'E, 1000 m, WHOI epibenthic sled, 23 July 1986, G.C.B. Poore et al., RV Franklin, stn SLOPE 32; 1 female, AM P.69011, east of Broken Bay, New South Wales, Australia, 33°30’S 152°09’E to 33°33’S 152°11’E, 922–1015 m, beam trawl, 12 February 1986, R. T. Springthorpe, FRV Kapala, stn K86-01-08.

Type locality. South of Point Hicks, Victoria, Australia, 38°19.60'S 149°24.30'E, 930 m depth.

Etymology. Named for the interstate passenger liner TSS Kanowna, which sank off Wilsons Promontory in 1929 with no loss of life.

Diagnostic description. Antenna 1 peduncular article 1 not or only slightly produced dorsodistally. Mandible incisor absent; left lacinia mobilis absent; accessory spine row absent; molar absent. Maxilla 1 outer plate with 5 setal-teeth, most setal-teeth cuspidate; palp 2-articulate. Maxilliped palp article 2 longer than broad , length 2 x breadth. Gnathopod 1 basis margins subparallel; ischium very long, length 4.3 x breadth; carpus very long, length 4.8 x breadth, subequal to (1.1 x) propodus; propodus tapered distally, length 5.3 x breadth. Pereopods 3 and 4 propodus with short distal locking seta. Pereopod 5 basis expanded posteroventrally , with posteroventral lobe; merus moderately expanded posteriorly. Pereopod 7 basis with posteroventral lobe not extending much beyond ischium ; merus posteroventral lobe extending more than halfway along, but not beyond, carpus. Pleonite 3 without dorsodistal boss. Epimeron 3 posteroventral corner broadly rounded. Uropod 1 rami with robust setae. Uropod 3 biramous; inner ramus about 0.5 x outer ramus; outer ramus 2-articulate. Telson about as long as broad, length about 1 x breadth.

Remarks. Kerguelenia kanowna belongs to a group of species (K. antiborealis, K. borealis, K. leura, K. ochotica and K. matilda) in which the basis of pereopod 5 is expanded posteroventrally and gnathopod 1 carpus is subequal to the propodus. It is most similar to K. antiborealis from Marion Island in the Southern Ocean. It can be distinguished from that species by the greater size of pereopod 5 merus and of pereopod 7 basis in K. antiborealis.

The non-ovigerous holotype female has a setose oostegite on pereopod 5 only.

Distribution. South-eastern Australia, in 922–1015 m depth.