Epimeria (Urepimeria) monodon Stephensen, 1947

Epimeria monodon Stephensen, 1947: 53, fig. 19.

Epimeria monodon – J.L. Barnard 1961: 103 (key). — McCain 1971: 161. — Thurston 1972: 34. — De Broyer & Klages 1991: 164 (key). — Coleman 1994: 560, 565–569, figs 9–12; 1998b: 224; 2007: 44, fig. 22a–b, colour plate 2c, map 12 (rhomb). — Watling 1981: 206. — Wakabara & Serejo 1999: 644 (key).

Material examined

SOUTHERN OCEAN: 1 exuvia, King George Island, Admiralty Bay, kept in aquarium, 14 Apr. 1992, coll. C. De Broyer (RBINS, INV. 132831); 1 exuvia, expedition ARCTOWSKI 1992, King George Island, Admiralty Bay, kept in aquarium, 1 Apr. 1992, coll. C. De Broyer (RBINS, INV. 132832); 1 exuvia, expedition ARCTOWSKI 1992, King George Island, Admiralty Bay, kept in aquarium, 16 Apr. 1992, coll. C. De Broyer (RBINS, INV. 132833); 1 exuvia, expedition ARCTOWSKI 1992, King George Island, Admiralty Bay, kept in aquarium, 30 Mar. 1992, coll. C. De Broyer (RBINS, INV. 132834); 2 specs, expedition ARCTOWSKI 1992, King George Island, Admiralty Bay, kept in aquarium, year 1992, coll. C. De Broyer (RBINS, INV. 132835).

Body length

Up to 29 mm.

Distribution

South Orkney Islands; South Shetland Islands; Palmer Archipelago; 0–15 m (De Broyer et al. 2007). Epimeria monodon was recorded from rocky intertidal communities (Aghmich et al. 2016) and was found amidst macro-algae (Richardson 1977). Thurston (1972) stated: “apparently associated with algae growing on rocks, boulder or gravel bottoms, 3–15 m ”.

Remarks

The record of E. monodon from the eastern shelf of the Weddell Sea at 254 m listed in the data compilation of De Broyer et al. (2007) falls outside of the usual geographical and bathymetric range of the species. It is considered as very suspect. It might be based on E. annabellae, which is common at such depth in the eastern Weddell Sea. It seems possible that E. monodon, which is a very shallow-water species, uses algal rafting as a method of dispersal between islands and archipelagoes. Thurston (1972) recorded a slight sexual dimorphism in the species: “the male has larger eyes and a slightly more prominent projection on pleon segment 3”.