Table 1
Material examined. Three specimens, one female 177 µm long and two specimens of undetermined gender (132– 171 µm long), collected in coral sand at Cook’s Bay, 0.5 –1.0 m depth.
Remarks. This species is known from the Atlantic Ocean (Faroe Banks), Mediterranean (Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea), Pacific Ocean (New Zealand, French Polynesia, Coral Sea, Tasman Sea), and the Red Sea (Renaud-Mornant 1981; de Zio Grimaldi et al. 1983 a, b, 2003; Kristensen & Higgins 1984; D’Addabbo Gallo et al. 1989; Boesgaard & Kristensen 2001; Hansen et al. 2001). Styraconyx kristenseni was originally described from Moorea Island, French Polynesia, by Renaud-Mornant (1981), with additional specimens collected from French Polynesia (Reao and Mururoa Atolls, in the Tuomoto Archipelago, previously identified as Styraconyx sargassi Thulin, 1942 (Renaud-Mornant 1976)). The subspecies Styraconyx kristenseni neocaledonensis Renaud-Mornant, 1981 was also identified from New Caledonia from specimens previously identified as Styraconyx sargassi (Renaud-Mornant 1981). The species is characterized by having peduncles on external claws only and short clavae (measuring less than 50 % of cirri A, Table 1). The two subspecies are distinguished by the leg sense organs: Styraconyx kristenseni neocaledonensis Renaud-Mornant, 1981, characterized by the presence of minute (just spurs) sense organs on legs I–III from New Caledonia, and Styraconyx kristenseni kristenseni Renaud-Mornant, 1981, with normally developed spines on legs I–III, from Polynesia. The specimens examined in this study, although having a larger body size, stronger external peduncles and slightly shorter primary clavae/lateral cirri A ratio, otherwise fit the original description of S. kristenseni kristenseni (Table 1).
S. turbinarium sp. nov. S. tyrrhenus S. craticulus S. kristenseni kristenseni S. kristenseni th leg sense 10.1 9.8? 9 11.7 12.9 9.2? 10 organ
Primary 0.52 0.53? 0.30 0.50 0.41 0.34? 0.45 clavae/Lateral
cirri A