Mauretanaspis Fiege & Barnich 2020, gen. nov.

Mauretanaspis gen. nov.

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Table 2

Mauretanaspis longichaeta gen. et spec. nov. designated herein.

Sternaspids with introvert hooks tapering. Eight segments between gonopodial lobes and shield (i.e., preshield region). Ventro-caudal shield densely covered with firmly adhering fine sediment, which cannot be brushed off. Due to sediment cover no shield structures like ribs or concentric rings visible except median suture. Shield with lateral margins strongly bent towards dorsal side, merging into integument. Peg chaetae absent.

The genus name is a combination of the Latin name for the type locality off the Northwest African state Mauritania (i.e., Mauretania, Lat.) and the Greek word ‘ aspis ’ (= ‘shield’); gender: feminine.

Mauretanaspis gen. nov. differs in the combination of characters from the other genera of Sternaspidae. The shield is completely and firmly covered by sediment, as in several species of Caulleryaspis, but it has eight pre-shield segments; peg chaetae (i.e., a dense group of short chaetae covered by a common sheath) are absent, while Caulleryaspis has seven pre-shield segments and peg chaetae are present. In Caulleryaspis nuda peg chaetae are absent, but according to Drennan et al. (2019) this species possibly belongs to the genus Sternaspis (see ‘Discussion’). Petersenaspis has eight pre-shield segments and peg chaetae are absent, as in Mauretanaspis gen. nov., but the shield is not covered by sediment and the introvert hooks are subdistally expanded or spatulate while hooks in Mauretanaspis gen. nov. are tapering (Table 2).