Notoprotomima, Takeuchi & Lowry, 2015

Takeuchi, Ichiro & Lowry, James K., 2015, A taxonomic study on the Phtisicidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of New South Wales, Australia, Journal of Natural History 50, pp. 603-648 : 633-634

Genus Notoprotomima gen. nov.

Diagnosis

Head fused with pereonite 1. Antenna 1 well developed; flagellum with more than two articles; accessory flagellum absent. Antenna 2 well developed; flagellum with two articles. Mandible well developed; molar absent; palp 3-articulate; article 3 with two or three large distal marginal setae. Maxilliped well developed; inner plate (basal endite) larger than outer plate (ischial endite); outer plate (ischial endite) well developed; palp article 3 without distal projection; palp article 4 well developed. Pereonite 4 clavate appendage absent. Pereonites 6 and 7 not fused. Pereopod 3 well developed, with seven articles. Pereopod 4 well developed, with seven articles. Pereopod 5 well developed, with seven articles, with well developed dactylus. Gills on pereonites 2 to 4. Pleopods absent. Uropods two pairs; uropod 1, uniramous; uropod 2, uniramous. Telson (dorsal lobe) present.

Gender

Feminine.

Type species

Notoprotomima smithi sp. nov.

Etymology

“ Notoprotomima ” is derived from “ Noto- ” meaning south (from notos = southerly), and protomima.

Included species

Notoprotomima includes two species: Notoprotomima grandimana ( Guerra-García, 2004a) ; Notoprotomima smithi sp. nov.

Remarks

This new genus, Notoprotomima , is most closely related to Pseudoprotomima McCain, 1969 and Symmetrella Laubitz, 1995 .

Three species have been reported so far ( McCain 1969; McCain and Gray 1971; Guerra-García 2004a) from Pseudoprotomima ; P. hurleyi McCain, 1969 from 788 to 1609 m depth near New Zealand, P. hedgpethi McCain and Gray, 1971 from 71 to 110 m depth in the South Indian Ocean and P. grandimana Guerra-García, 2004a from less than 18 m depth along the coast of Western Australia.

The present new genus, Notoprotomima , differs from Pseudoprotomima (see McCain and Gray 1971; Takeuchi 1993) in the following generic characters: (1) the flagellum of antenna 2 in Notoprotomima is restricted to two articles even in mature males, while that in Pseudoprotomima varies from two to four articles; and (2) in Notoprotomima the third article of the mandibular palp has two to three large distal setae, while in Pseudoprotomima the setal formula is 1 – x – 1.

The genus Symmetrella was established for Symmetrella arnaudi Laubitz, 1995 collected from bathyal depths, 2200 m, from the southern Indian Ocean ( Laubitz 1995). The present new genus, Notoprotomima , differs from Symmetrella (see Laubitz 1995) in the following generic characters: (1) in Notoprotomima the third article of mandibular palp has two to three large distal setae, while in Symmetrella the setal formula is 1 – x – 1; (2) in Notoprotomima pereopod 4 is composed of seven articles, while Symmetrella lacks pereopod 4; and (3) in Notoprotomima the abdomen lacks pleopods, while in Symmetrella the abdomen possesses a pair of tiny pleopods.

Hence, we establish the new genus, Notoprotomima , based on the present species. The description and figures for P. grandimana Guerra-García, 2004a ( Guerra-García 2004a) agree well with the present species in the above generic diagnosis of Notoprotomima and P. grandimana is here moved to Notoprotomima .