Published December 31, 2005 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Syscenus Harger 1880

Creators

Description

Syscenus Harger, 1880

Restricted synonymy: Bruce, 1997: 113.— Bruce, Lew Ton & Poore, 2002: 163. Type species: Syscenus infelix Harger, 1880, by monotypy.

Remarks. Recent publications on species of Syscenus include Kensley (2004), Kensley & Cartes (2003), and Ross et al. (2001) on the parasitic habits of Syscenus infelix Harger, 1880. Bruce (1997) provided a revised generic diagnosis. The genus can be recognized by the pleon being abruptly narrower than the pereon, lamellar uropods and maxilliped palp with three articles; all but two species entirely lack eyes. The monotypic genus Xenuraega Tattersall, 1909, also with a narrow pleon, is immediately distinguished by the uropodal rami, with a short and stub­like endopod and an exceptionally elongate, filamentous exopod with numerous plumose setae (Bruce 1993, figs 1 and 2).

Most species of the genus lack any trace of eyes or ommatidia. Syscenus peruanus Menzies & George, 1972, the only previously described species known to have eyes, is known from a single juvenile specimen, atypically deep for the genus at 4526–4609 m, from off Peru. Syscenus karu sp. nov. has distinct eyes, and the lack of eyes can no longer be considered a generic character state for the genus.

Other

Published as part of Bruce, Niel L., 2005, Two new species of the mesopelagic isopod genus Syscenus Harger, 1880 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Aegidae) from the southwestern Pacific, pp. 31-42 in Zootaxa 1070 on page 32, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.170292

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Family
Aegidae
Genus
Syscenus
Kingdom
Animalia
Order
Isopoda
Phylum
Arthropoda
Scientific name authorship
Harger
Taxon rank
genus
Taxonomic concept label
Syscenus Harger, 1880 sec. Bruce, 2005

References

  • Harger, O. (1880) Report on the marine Isopoda of New England and adjacent waters. Report of the U. S. Commission for Fisheries, 6, 297 - 462.
  • Bruce, N. L. (1997) A new species of Syscenus Harger, 1880 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Aegidae) from eastern Australia with a revised diagnosis to the genus. Records of the Australian Museum, 49, 113 - 120.
  • Bruce, N. L., Lew Ton, H. M. & Poore, G. C. B. (2002) Aegidae White, 1850. In: Poore, G. C. B. (Ed.) Crustacea: Malacostraca: Syncarida and Peracarida: Isopoda, Tanaidacea, Mictacea, Thermosbaenacea, Spelaeogriphacea, (Houston, W. W. K. & P. L. Beesley; Zoological Catalogue of Australia), Vol. 119.2 A. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, pp. 159 - 163.
  • Kensley, B. (2004) Redescription and distribution of two species of Syscenus (Crustacea, Isopoda, Aegidae) in the North Atlantic. Sarsia, 89 (3), 160 - 174.
  • Kensley, B. & Cartes, J. E. (2003) Records and distribution of Syscenus infelix in the deep Mediterranean (Crustacea: Isopoda: Aegidae. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 83 (4), 775 - 777.
  • Ross, S. W., Sulak, K. J. & Munroe, T. A. (2001) Association of Syscenus infelix (Crustacea: Isopoda: Aegidae) with benthopelagic rattail fishes, Nezumia spp. (Macrouridae), along the western North Atlantic continental slope. Marine Biology, 138 (3), 595 - 602.
  • Tattersall, W. M. (1909) II. Amphipoda and Isopoda, with descriptions of two new species. Memoirs of the Challenger Society, 1, 210 - 219.
  • Bruce, N. L. (1993) Redescription of the overlooked crustacean isopod genus Xenuraega (Aegidae, Flabellifera). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 73, 617 - 625.
  • Menzies, R. J. & George, R. Y. (1972) Isopod Crustacea of the Peru - Chile Trench. Anton Bruun Report. Scientific Results of the Southeast Pacific Expedition, Texas A & M Press: College Station Texas, 9, 1 - 124.