Exiliniscus chandravoli, George, 2001

George, Robert Y., 2001, Desmosomatidae and Nannoniscidae (Crustacea, Isopoda, Asellota) from bathyal and abyssal depths oOE North Carolina and their evolution, Journal of Natural History 35 (12), pp. 1831-1859 : 1848-1849

Exiliniscus chandravoli n. sp.

(®gure 10A±I)

Material examined. Holotype female with marsupium containing four eggs.

Length 2.9 mm and maximum width 1.2 mm.

Type locality. Lower Carolina slope oOE Cape Lookout, NC, Site Beta Eastward Sta. G-4 (5494), 3620 m .

Etymology. This new species is named in honour of my wife Mrs Chandra George. In the Sanskrit language chandra means moon and in the Tamil language voli means bright light..

Diagnosis. Exiliniscus with body length 4.2 times tergal width of the second pereonite. Cephalon medially slightly shorter than the ®rst pereonite. Frontal rostrum of the cephalon not protruding far forward, somewhat truncated. Antennula with projection from the inner distal angle of fourth article reaching as far as the distal edge of the bulbous terminal article. Antenna more than one-third the length of the body. Uropodal exopod more than twice the length of the exopod. Female operculum almost two-thirds the length of the pleon.

Description. Cephalon shorter than the ®rst pereonite. Second pereonite longer than the ®rst pereonite. Body width gradually decreasing from fourth pereonite to the distal edge of the pleon. Pleon spade-shaped, width at the anterior part greater than the length of the pleon.

Antennula of ®ve articles, basal article broad, second article long and distally broad, with a very long seta at the outer distal angle, third article short, fourth article at the inner distal angle produced, the projection extending to the level of the distal margin of the terminal bulbous article, but well separated. Antenna with a peduncle of four articles, second and third peduncular articles elongated; ¯agellum of eight articles.

Second pereopod with propodus bearing four long spine-like setae on the inner margin and three long spine-like setae on the outer margin; carpus lacking any setae or spine on the outer margin and with seven long spine-like setae. Sixth pereopod slender, carpus with long setae on inner margin. Seventh pereopod slender, propodus with long seta on the inner margin and two long setae on the outer margin, carpus with four long setae on the inner margin. Female operculum about two-thirds as long as pleon, lacking any recurved ventral hook. Uropod with exopod one-third as long as endopod.

Remarks. The new species has a pleon very similar in size and shape to that of another northwestern Atlantic species E. clipeatus Siebenaller and Hessler 1981 , recorded from 3834 to 5023 m. However, E. clipeatus has antenna distinctly robust. This new species resembles the equatorial Atlantic species E. aculeatus Siebenaller and Hessler, 1981 (1966±3797 m) in having an antenna with narrow articles, not robust. This species is clearly distinguished from these two species in having a body with broader anterior and narrower posteriorly tapering body. The body of the other two species is more slender and uniformly broad. Furthermore, the antennula in this new species is diOEerent from that of the other three known species of the genus, including E. hanseni ( Just, 1970) .