Epimeria, Costa in Hope, 1851

Souza-Filho, Jesser F., Guedes-Silva, Elkênita & Andrade, Luiz F., 2024, Four new species and two new records of deep-sea Amphipoda (Crustacea: Peracarida) from Potiguar Basin, north-eastern Brazil, Journal of Natural History 58 (41 - 44), pp. 1615-1655 : 1640-1641

Key to Atlantic species of Epimeria

1a. Rostrum shorter than the first peduncular article of antenna 1 ................................... 2

1b. Rostrum reaching the distal margin of the first peduncular article of antenna 1 or exceeding it ....................................................................................................................................... 3

2a. Pereopod 5 coxa process wing-like, produced; pleonite 1 carina absent ....................... ...................................................................................... E. bathyalis Wakabara and Serejo, 1999

2b. Pereopod 5 coxa process rounded; pleonite 1 carina small and pointed ...................... ........................................................................................ E. rotunda Wakabara and Serejo, 1999

3a. Rostrum flexed.................................................................................................................................... 4

3b. Rostrum straight ............................................................................................................................... 6

4a. Body smooth ............................................ ............................................ E. obtusa Watling, 1981

4b. Body with carinae and additional teeth ................................................................................. 5

5a. Pereonite 7 with dorsolateral pointed process .......................................................................... ...................................................................................... Epimeria cornigera (J.C. Fabricius, 1779)

5b. Pereonite 7 without dorsolateral pointed process.......... E. parasitica (M. Sars, 1858)

6a. Pereion with strongly developed dorsal carinae and additional teeth............................ .................................................................................................................. E. loricata G.O. Sars, 1879

6b. Pereion smooth, lacking strongly developed dorsal carinae and additional teeth, a small carina may be present on pereonite ........................................................................ 7

7a. Pereonite 7 carina small and rounded...................................................................................... 8

7b. Pereonite 7 carina absent ............................................................................................................. 9

8a. Pereonites 1–7 with ventrolateral rounded bulge; pleonites 1–3 with carinae small and rounded................................................................................ E. tuberculata G.O. Sars, 1895

8b. Pereonites 1–7 ventrolaterally smooth; pleonites 1–3 with carinae well developed ................................................................................................................... Epimeria colemani sp. n.

9a. Pleonites 1–2 carinae absent; pleonite 3 with carina small and rounded ...................... .................................................................................................. E. semiarmata K.H. Barnard, 1916

9b. Pleonites 1–3 with well-developed carinae ....................................................................... 10

10a. Pleonites 1–3 with dorsolateral protrusion .................................................................................. ................................................................................. E. longispinosa K.H. Barnard, 1916, p. 10 b.

10b. Pleonites 1–3 without dorsolateral protrusion .................................................................. 11

11a. Gnathopod 2 coxa apically rounded; epimeral plates 1–3 with postero-mid-lateral margin slightly pointed .............................................................. E. concordia Griffiths, 1977

11b. Gnathopod 2 coxa apically pointed; epimeral plates 1–2 with postero-mid-lateral margin slightly rounded.............................. E. ultraspinosa Wakabara and Serejo, 1999