Lepidepecreoides talboti Lowry & Stoddart, 2002, n.sp.

Lepidepecreoides talboti n.sp.

Lepidepecreoides nubifer.– Griffiths, 1977: 98, fig. 4.

Type material. HOLOTYPE, female, 17 mm, SAM A10547, [west of Cape Point, South Africa, southeastern South Atlantic Ocean], 34°36'S 17°00'E, 2740 m, F.H. Talbot, 10 December 1959, RS Africana II [material recorded by Griffiths, 1977 as Lepidepecreoides nubifer].

Type locality. West of Cape Point, South Africa, southeastern South Atlantic Ocean, 34°36'S 17°00'E, 2740 m depth.

Description. Based on holotype female, 17 mm. Body [shape not known]. Head with lateral cephalic lobe subtriangular, apically subacute; eyes apparently absent. Antenna 1 peduncular articles 1 and 2 without anterodistal lobe; accessory flagellum 2-articulate, terminal article small, offset; flagellum with strong 2-field callynophore; robust setae present on proximal articles; calceoli absent. Antenna 2 [not known]. Epistome/upper lip [not known]. Mandible molar columnar with oval, fully triturating surface; palp attached extremely distally, article 3 without proximal A3- setae. Maxilla 1 outer plate with setal-tooth 7 [symmetry not known], cuspidate distally along inner margin; palp distal margin with apical robust setae. Maxilliped outer plate with 2 long, slender apical robust setae.

Gnathopod 1 subchelate; coxa large, about as long as coxa 2, subrectangular with straight anterior margin; basis sparsely setose along anterior margin; ischium short; carpus long (3.1 × breadth), longer than propodus, without posterior lobe; propodus small, margins subparallel, palm acute, entire, straight. Pereonite 2 [not known]. Gnathopod 2 palm slightly obtuse. Pereonites 3–6 [dorsal margins unknown].

Pereopod 5 coxa without distinct lateral ridge; basis longer than broad, posterior margin with mid-central spine, with well-developed slender posteroventral lobe. Pereonite 7 with mid-dorsal carina (slightly developed). Pereopod 7 [unknown].

Pleonite 1 with mid-dorsal carina. Pleonite 2 with dorsal carina, rounded dorsodistally. Pleonite 3 with mid-dorsal carina, with irregular mid-dorsal margin, posterodorsal margin produced. Epimeron 3 [unknown]. Urosomite 1 with mid-dorsal, tube-shaped carina. Uropod 3 outer ramus article 2 short, with plumose setae on each ramus. Telson deeply cleft, without dorsal robust setae, without apical robust setae.

Etymology. Named for Dr Frank Talbot, collector of the type material, renowned zoologist and yachtsman, and previous Director of both the South African Museum and the Australian Museum.

Remarks. Lepidepecreoides talboti was considered by Griffiths (1977) to be the same species as L. nubifer J.L. Barnard, 1971. Griffiths considered the morphological differences between his material and that of Barnard to be not taxonomically significant. Based on our examination of known species in the genus and the geographical distance between the two populations, we consider the taxa to be separate species. Lepidepecreoides talboti differs from L. nubifer in the length of the gnathopod 1 carpus, the dorsal shape of the pleonites and the setation of the telson.

We have assumed that the segments of the dorsal profile in figure 4 I of Griffiths (1977) have been mis-labelled, and that the segment labelled “3” is really urosomite 1, etc. It would otherwise seem inconceivable that Griffiths would identify his material as L. nubifer, which has no strong dorsal projection on pleonite 3.

Distribution. Cape Basin, southeastern South Atlantic Ocean; 2740 m depth.