Mastigoniscus Lincoln 1985

(SOSA), Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance, Brandt, Angelika, Chen, Chong, Engel, Laura, Esquete, Patricia, Horton, Tammy, Jażdżewska, Anna M., Johannsen, Nele, Kaiser, Stefanie, Kihara, Terue C., Knauber, Henry, Kniesz, Katharina, Landschoff, Jannes, Lörz, Anne-Nina, Machado, Fabrizio M., Martínez-Muñoz, Carlos A., Riehl, Torben, Serpell-Stevens, Amanda, Sigwart, Julia D., Tandberg, Anne Helene S., Tato, Ramiro, Tsuda, Miwako, Vončina, Katarzyna, Watanabe, Hiromi K., Wenz, Christian & Williams, Jason D., 2024, Ocean Species Discoveries 1 – 12 — A primer for accelerating marine invertebrate taxonomy, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 128431-e 128431 : e128431-

Mastigoniscus Lincoln 1985

Type species: Mastigoniscus pistus Lincoln, 1985

Composition: Fourteen species. Mastigoniscus andeepi Brökeland & Brandt, 2006 , Mastigoniscus concavus (Menzies & George, 1972) , Mastigoniscus elegans Park, 2000 , Mastigoniscus generalis (Menzies & George, 1972) , Mastigoniscus gratissimus (Menzies & George, 1972) , Mastigoniscus gratus (Menzies & George, 1972) , Mastigoniscus latus ( Birstein, 1971) , Mastigoniscus microcephalus (Gamó, 1989) , Mastigoniscus pistus Lincoln, 1985 , Mastigoniscus platovatus Park, 2000 , Mastigoniscus polygomphios Brökeland & Brandt, 2006 , Mastigoniscus pseudoelegans Brökeland & Brandt, 2006 , Mastigoniscus stenocephalus Park, 2000 , and Mastigoniscus minimus Wenz, Knauber & Riehl , sp. nov.

Notes

The most recent previous generic diagnosis for Mastigoniscus provided by Brökeland and Brandt (2006), page 86, contains several characters that do not apply to M. latus ( Birstein, 1971) , M. microcephalus (Gamó, 1989) and M. minimus Wenz, Knauber & Riehl , sp. nov. from the northwest Pacific Ocean. Character states listed by Brökeland and Brandt (2006) applying only to the remaining species of Mastigoniscus are: posterior body part (pereonites 5–7 and pleotelson) length exceeding length of anterior part; pleotelson posterolateral processes strongly projecting in males, shorter in females; pereopod VI carpus distodorsally with spine-like setae.

The similarities of M. latus , M. microcephalus and M. minimus Wenz, Knauber & Riehl , sp. nov., as well as the geographic proximity of their occurrence, can be interpreted as evidence for a shared recent ancestry and may justify further studies on their relationships with the remaining species of Mastigoniscus . However, whether the observed similarities are chance similarities or justify the appraisal of a separate genus-level taxon or subgroup within Mastigoniscus requires a thorough systematic analysis, preferably including a broader genetic representation of Mastigoniscus .

Diagnosis

Head without rostral process; pereonites 5–7 and pleotelson tergites medially fused, sutures more or less distinct; pereonite 7 reduced in adults, short, with fully developed pereopods 7; antenna 2 article 3 dorsal projection distal margin serrated; male pleopods 1 and 2 large, covering most of the pleotelson ventral surface, pleopod 2 endopod elongate, article 1 curved backwards, article 2 much longer than article 1, forming slender copulatory filament; female operculum relatively smaller in relation to pleotelson than male operculum.