Cyclocaris tahitensis Stebbing, 1888

Horton, Tammy & Thurston, Michael H., 2014, A revision of the bathyal and abyssal necrophage genus Cyclocaris Stebbing, 1888 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Cyclocaridae) with the addition of two new species from the Atlantic Ocean, Zootaxa 3796 (3), pp. 507-527 : 524

Cyclocaris tahitensis Stebbing, 1888

Cyclocaris tahitensis Stebbing, 1888: 664–668 , pl. 8; 1906: 30, fig. 7.—Della Valle, 1893: 843, pl. 60, fig. 53.—J.L. Barnard 1958: 91.— Gurjanova, 1962: 85–86, 88, fig. 17.— Thurston & Allen, 1969: 358.— Wilson et al., 1985: 1248, 1251.— Barnard & Karaman, 1991: 479.— Vinogradov & Vinogradov, 1991: 33.— Vinogradov, 1993: 43.— Lowry & Stoddart, 1994: 153. not Cyclocaris tahitensis — Chevreux 1903: 89; 1935: 31, pl. 4, fig. 4 (= Cyclocaris franki sp. nov.).

Material examined. Holotype, ca. 17 mm, Challenger station 279, off Tahiti, collected in a plankton tow net, in a sounding of 768 m. The type material consists of 3 slides (Reg. No. NHMUK 1889.5.15.20). The slides are in poor condition but are recognisable as the specimen used for Stebbing’s original illustrations.

Remarks. Material collected at the Îles Australes (south-west Pacific Ocean) shows the species to have a large, irregularly-shaped eye which fades with preservation ( Lowry & Stoddart, 2011).

Vinogradov & Vinogradov (1991), Vinogradov (1993) and Lowry & Stoddart (1994) have shown that C. tahitensis is a widespread, abundant scavenger in the South Pacific Ocean. All material except the type specimen and the material reported by Vinogradov (1993) was collected in baited benthic traps.

Distribution. Pacific Ocean. Central North Pacific, Hamilton and Hess guyots, 1740–1790 m ( Wilson et al., 1985); south-west Pacific, Tahiti (depth unknown but less than 768 m), Îles Australes, 65–870 m, ( Lowry & Stoddart, 1994); south-east Pacific, 24º 58’S 88º 24’W, 560 m ( Vinogradov & Vinogradov, 1991), East Pacific vent region west of Sala y Gomez, 27º 00’S 111º 24’W, 2024–2038 m ( Vinogradov, 1993).